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Arthur  Carey. 


THE 


OXFORD  MOVEMENT  IN  AMERICA; 


OR, 


GLIMPSES  OF  LIFE 


ANGLICAN  SEMINARY. 


BV  ^ 

REV.  CLARENCE  E.  WALWORTH, 

Si.  Mary's  Church,  Aibaiiy. 


New  York : 

THE  CATHOLIC  BOOK   EXCHANGE, 

1 20  West  60th  Street. 


Copyright,   1895,  by 

CLARENCE  A.   WALWORTH. 

All  rights  reseii'ed. 


Printed  at  the  Columbus  Pres?,  120  West  COth  St. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 


PAGE 


From   Law  to    Divinity. — Presbyterians  in  a  Quandary. — My   Location    and 

Surroundings  at  the  Seminary. — Evangelical  Friends  in  the  City,  .         I 

CHAPTER  IL 
Studies   and    Class    Incidents. — Hebrew;    Exegesis;    Dogma. — Cudgels    in 

and  out  of  Class. — Lay  Baptism,  .......       20 

CHAPTER  HL 

Arthur  Carey's  Crucial  Examination. — Practical  Value  of  the  Via  Media  in 
a  Compromise  Religion. — Lively  Fencing  among  the  Examiners. — 
Carey  warmly  Endorsed  and  Exculpated.--"  No.  90"  Scores  a 
Triumph,        ............       34 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Protest    against    Arthur    Carey's    Ordination. — Central    Point   of  a    Great 
Storm. — Carey's  Family. —  Further  Details  of  His  Life. — Assistant  to 
Seabury. — Early   Death    and    Burial  at  Sea. — Newman's  Interest  in 
Carey, 5' 

CHAPTER  V. 

Students'  Missionary  Society. — "A  Heathen  Chinee." — An  Oriental  Bishop. 
— A  Bishop  to  the  Orientals. — Kip's  Heroes. — Henry  Martyn. — 
Heber,  6; 

CHAPTER  VL 

Further  Missionary  Aspirations. — "  Crazy  Richmond." — Tyng's  Lecture. — 
Ward's  "  Ideal  of  a  Christian  Church." — Meditation.— Private  Re- 
treats.— Parish  Missions,        .......••       81 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Slowness  of  the  Movement  Romeward. — Over-hasty  Attempts  to  Crack  the 
Protestant  Nut. — Dunigan.— Baker. — Phinney. — Moehler's  "  Symbol- 
ism."— Lives  of  the  Earlv  English  Saints 95 


iv  Contents. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

PAGE 

A  Protestant  Citeaux  in  the  West. — Nashotah  Founded  on  Monasticism. — 
Kip's  Visit  in  1847. — The  Founders  get  Married.— St.  Mary's  Priory 
in  the  Adirondacks. — Episcopalian  Sisterhoods,  ....         106 

CHAPTER   IX. 
After  Effects  of  Carey's  Ordination. — War  on  Bishop  Onderdonk  in  Dioce- 
san   Convention. — The   Bishop's    Masterly    Defence. — Judge    Duer's 
Speech. — A    Change   of   Tactics. — The    Bishop's   Private    Character 
Assailed'. — His  Trial  and  Condemnation, 119 

CHAPTER  X. 

Break-up  at  the  Seminary.— Professors  take  Alarm. — Jesuits  in  Disguise. — 
Wattson  and  Donelly  Dismissed. — McVickar  Withdraws. — Wal- 
worth, McMaster,  and  Wadhams  Cross  over  to  Rome,      .         .         .         133 

CHAPTER  XI. 
The      Break-up      (continuedj. — Diverging      Paths. — Donelly. — Wattson. — 
Everett. — Piatt. — Whitcher. — American    Obedience    to    Law. — Blind 
Obedience. — The   Chelsea   Break-up   Echoed    in  Maryland. — Hewit, 
Baker,  and  Lyman 146 

CHAPTER  XII. 
The  Break-up   Echoed   in    a    Low-church    Diocese. — Bishop    Mcllvaine. — 
Seminary  and  Kenyon  College  at  Gambler. — A    High-church  Parish 
with   a    Low-church  Pastor. — Tractarianism    Crops  Out. — A   Bomb- 
shell at  Commencement. — The  Richards  Family  of  Converts.  .         160 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary, 


CHAPTER   I. 

FROM  LAW  TO  DIVINITY. — PRESBYTERIANS  IN  A  QUANDARY. — 
MY  LOCATION  AND  SURROUNDINGS  AT  THE  SEMINARY. — 
EVANGELICAL    FRIENDS   IN   THE   CITY. 

IN  the  summer  of  1842  I  was  a  practising  lawyer  in  Rochester, 
N.  Y.,  being  the  junior  member  of  the  firm  of  Chapin  & 
Walworth.  Our  office  was  in  a  second  story  front  room  of  the 
S.nith  Block,  so-called,  in  Main  Street,  and  directly  facing  the 
principal  hotel  in  that  city.  We  were  doing  a  good  business 
and  I  liked  my  profession  well  enough.  About  that  time,  how- 
ever, my  mind  had  been  turned  towards  religion  more  stead- 
fastly than  ever  before.  I  felt  growing  up  within  me  a  strong 
desire  to  devote  myself  entirely  to  the  church.  I  opened  my 
mind  on  this  subject  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Whitehouse,  then  rector 
of  St.  Luke's,  and  afterwards  Bishop  of  Illinois.  I  was  a  mem- 
ber of  St.  Luke's  choir,  and  a  teacher  in  the  Sunday-school, 
and  was  strongly  attached  to  the  rector.  He  encouraged  me 
to  follow  my  inclination,  as  being  both  rational  and  deeply 
settled,  and  wrote  a  letter  for  me  to  Bishop  De  Lancey  recom- 
mending me  as  a  candidate  for  orders  in  his  diocese. 

Neither  my  father  nor  any  of  my  friends  made  any  serious 
opposition  to  my  purpose,  and  it  was  carried  into  speedy  exe- 
cution. My  father's  personal  library  of  law-books,  a  large  and 
fine  collection,  was  sent  home  to  him  forthwith  ;  and  when  I 
parted  with  these  very  little  of  law  remained  with  me.  I  my- 
self returned  to  the  family  residence  at  Saratoga  Springs,  to 
wait  for  the  opening  of  the  next  term  of  the  General  Theologi- 
cal Seminary  in  New  York  City.  I  recall  only  one  event  which 
occurred  during  this  interval  of  any  importance  to  these  reminis- 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 


cences.  Although  it  forms  no  part  of  my  career  at  the  semi- 
nary, I  introduce  it  here  because  it  had  some  influence  upon 
the  development  of  my  mind  while  there.  It  brought  before 
me  in  a  very  practical  shape  the  question  of  clerical  and  mis- 
sionary celibacy,  a  question  which  afterwards  I  found  much 
mooted  among  my  fellow  students. 

At  my  father's  request  I  went  with  him  to  attend  an  annual 
meeting  of  the  American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions.  I  was 
very  glad  to  do  this,  for  the  work  of  spreading  the  Gospel  in 
heathen  lands  had  always  seemed  to  me  the  best  and  clearest 
note  of  true  Christian  life  in  that  vague  and  strangely  assorted 
thing  which  Protestants  name  the  church.  Our  house  was  always 
opened  to  every  one  who  bore  the  name  of  missionary.  It  was 
one  of  my  mother's  chief  delights  to  read  the  pages  of  the 
Missio7iary  Herald,  although  little  was  ever  found  recorded  there 
except  the  establishment  of  some  new  printing-press,  some  new 
translation  and  publication  of  Bibles  and  tracts  into  foreign  lan- 
guages, and  new  "  signs  of  interest  "  in  some  individuals  among 
the  savages  who  seldom  ripened  into  Christians. 

My  father  also  was  fond  of  attending  missionary  gatherings, 
and  every  morning  at  family  prayers  was  careful  to  invoke  a 
blessing  upon  missionary  labors.  We  children  were  all  familiar 
with  the  words  of  this  prayer,  which  never  varied  :  "  We  ear- 
nestly beseech  thee,  O  God  !  to  give  thy  special  benediction  to 
all  those  messengers  of  the  Gospel  who  carry  the  glad  tidings 
of  a  Saviour's  love  to  the  dark  and  benighted  corners  of  the 
earth."  Wnen  these  familiar  words  came  to  the  ears  of  the 
children  of  the  family  they  often  found  us  gathered  together  in 
a  group  in  the  middle  of  the  room,  engaged  in  anything  but 
prayer.  It  was  the  signal  that  "  Amen  "  was  imminent,  and  that 
it  was  time  to  find  our  way  back  to  our  chairs.  There,  kneel- 
ing with  our  heads  to  the  wall,  we  buried  our  faces  in  our 
hands  like  the  older  members  of  the  family.  It  is  not  very  edi- 
fying to  tell  of  this;  the  impression  of  the  prayer,  however, 
was  not  altogether  lost  upon  us.  We  learned  to  respect  the 
missionary  life  as  the  highest  and  noblest  of  vocations. 

I  had  no  scruple  in  attending  this  convention  of  Presby- 
terians with    my  father.     I    myself,    although    I    had    joined    the 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 


Anglican  Church,  was  not  at  this  time  very  Anglican.  I  was 
neither  a  high  churchman  nor  a  low-churchman.  I  might  more 
properly  have  been  called  an  Evangelical. 

I  remember  meeting,  about  this  time,  an  old  college-mate — 
a  Presbyterian,  I  think — who,  after  hailing  me  cordially,  said  :  "I 
understand,  Walworth,  that  you  have  become  an  Episcopalian 
since  we  met  last."  I  answered,  "Yes."  "Well,"  said  he,  "are 
you  one  of  the  high  heels  or  low  heels?"  Not  willing  to  be 
classed  with  either  faction,  I  answered  that  I  was  not  aware  of 
any  peculiarity  about  my  heels.  "Well,"  said  he,  "do  you  care 
whether  your  prayer  books  are  printed  in  black  letters  or  red?" 
"  Not  at  all."  My  views,  in  truth,  were  very  broad  in  regard  to 
Protestantism,  and  very  narrow  in  respect  to  Catholicism. 

At  this  annual  convention  I  attended  not  only  all  the  busi- 
ness meetings  of  the  board,  but,  as  I  remember,  all  the  religious 
services,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  receive  communion  with  the 
rest. 

The  principal  action  of  the  American  Board  of  Missions  at 
this  meeting  was  one  that  opened  my  eyes  very  much  to  the 
practical  fruitlessness  of  Presbyterianism.  The  standing  com- 
mittee of  the  board  made  a  public  report  to  the  meeting,  in 
which  they  recommended  that  thereafter  all  missionaries  sent 
out  to  foreign  missions  should  be  single  and  remain  unmarried. 
The  reason  was  that  married  missionaries  have  generally  large 
families,  which  engross  much  of  their  time  and  cripple  their 
capacity  for  missionary  labor.  It  was  found,  moreover,  that  the 
children  of  missionaries  carried  abroad,  or  born  there,  were  not 
only  deprived  of  the  advantages  of  a  good  education,  but  were 
exposed  to  the  evil  influences  of  heathen  immoralities.  This 
made  it  necessary  to  send  them  home  in  large  numbers  to  be 
maintained  at  the  expense  of  the  board.  Hence  the  recommen- 
dation of  the  committee  to  employ  only  celibates  in  foreign 
missionary  labor. 

The  report  of  this  committee  fell  like  a  thunderclap  upon 
the  assembled  multitude.  Here  was,  in  fact,  an  unexpected 
justification  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  her  enjoining  a  life  of 
celibacy  upon  her  clergy,  and  in  her  employment  of  so  many 
women  vowed  to  celibacy  in  Christian  education.     The  agitation 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary 


of  the  assembly  was  intensified  by  the  shock  given  to  a  large 
number  of  ladies  present,  wives  and  daughters  both  of  clergy- 
men and  of  laymen.  These  women,  indeed,  formed  a  majority 
of  the  audience  present.  Such  ladies,  I  think  it  may  safely  be 
said,  are  generally  more  interested  in  missionary  work  abroad 
than  are  their  fathers,  brothers,  and  husbands,  and  more  inclined 
to  be  generous  in  its    support. 

The  report  of  the  committee  had  cast  a  wet  blanket  upon 
the  whole  assemblage.     A  silence   prevailed  which  was  ominous. 

At  this  juncture,  looking  down  from  the  gallery,  I  saw  my 
father  rise  on  the  floor  below  to  address  the  meeting.  He  op- 
posed the  recommendation  of  the  committee  as  a  most  dangerous 
experiment,  and  most  injurious  to  the  missionary  cause.  He 
dwelt  particularly  upon  the  value  of  woman's  work  and  influ- 
ence in  the  foreign  field.  This  sentiment  prevailed,  and  the  un- 
fortunate report  was  as  promptly  and  effectually  suppressed  as 
the  guinea  pig  in  "Wonderland"  when  "  Alice  "  sat  down  upon 
him.  I  asked  my  father  afterwards  how  he  could  bring  himself 
to  make  such  an  argument.  The  facts  presented  by  the  report 
were  manifestly  true,  I  said,  and  the  conclusion  to  which  the 
committee  had  come  was  inevitable.  No  missionary  woik  could 
prosper  with  missionaries  so  handicapped. 

"  That's  true  enough,"  he  replied.  "  Our  foreign  missions 
are  doing  very  little.  The  expense  of  supporting  the  mission- 
aries would  be  greatly  lessened  if  they  would  go  without  fami- 
lies and  remain  unmarried  ;  but  don't  you  see  that  in  that  case 
we  would  have  no  missions  at  all  ?  Women  would  not  be  em- 
ployed, men  would  not  go,  and  all  the  enthusiasm  at  home 
about  missions  would  die  out ;  besides  little  money  could  be 
gathered  to  keep  them  up.  Didn't  you  see  how  all  life  was 
taken  out  of  the  meeting  by  the  reading  of  that  report  ?  " 

I  said :  "  Yes.  But  what  is  the  use  of  keeping  up  foreign 
missions  among  the  heathen  when  the  heathen  are  not  convert- 
ed ?  "  He  admitted  the  scarcity  of  converts,  but  in  a  moody 
way  said  :  "  The  thought  of  foreign  missions  helps  to  keep  reli- 
gion alive  at  home." 

Coming  from  a  lawyer  this  reply  seemed  to  me  very  strange 
and  unsatisfactory.     It   avoided    the   main    issue,   and    easily   ad- 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  5 

mitted  of  a  demurrer.  The  Presbyterians  were  thus,  to  my 
mind,  placed  in  the  position  of  a  body  of  Christians  maintain- 
ing a  great  humbug.  And  furthermore  another  question  was 
brought  forward  to  a  prominence.  If  celibacy  was  practically 
necessary  to  missionary  work,  why  not  important  also  to  all 
laborers  in  the  Christian  ministry?  To  admit  this  was  to 
score  a  point  in  favor  of  clerical  celibacy,  if  not  of  popery.  I 
was  imbued  with  the  prevalent  suspicions  of  horns  and  hoofs, 
but  from  this  time  forward  I  felt  that  in  one  strong  point 
affecting  true  Christian  life  in  the  church  Protestants  were  far 
behind. 

The  opening  of  the  fall  term  next  ensuing  of  the  General 
Seminary  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  New  York 
City  found  me  at  Twentieth  Street,  in  my  room  in  the  east 
building.  There  were  two  long  buildings  at  that  time,  each 
flanked  at  both  ends  by  dwelling  houses  for  the  professors. 

The  institution  to  which  I  was  now  attached  was  of  a  much 
higher  order,  both  in  the  character  of  its  professors  and  the 
scholarly  habits  of  its  students,  than  any  other  that  I  knew  of. 
Bishop  Onderdonk,  of  New  York,  was  its  president.  He  was 
a  high-churchman  of  the  highest  type.  He  was  a  fearless 
and  tenacious  polemic,  and  strongly  inclined  in  favor  of  the 
Oxford  movement.  He  was  also  professor  of  ecclesiastical 
polity.  The  text-book  that  he  used  in  class  was  Hooker,  with 
free  use  of  a  work  by  Law,  the  non  juror,  in  all  that  regarded 
apostolical  succession.  His  classes  were  not  very  frequent  nor 
very  regular ;  but  the  subject-matter  of  his  lectures  and  recita- 
tions was  the  all-important  one  to  Episcopalians  of  apostolical 
succession,  and  the  divine  institution  of  the  clergy  in  three  dis- 
tinct orders. 

Dr.  Samuel  H.  Turner  was  dean  of  the  faculty,  and  taught 
hermeneutics.  It  would  be  difficult  to  define  his  position  as 
either  high  or  low.  He  was  not  what  could  be  called  evan- 
gelical. He  hated  cant  of  all  kinds,  whether  nasal  or  pom- 
pous, and  when  officiating  in  the  chapel  expedited  his  prayers 
with  the  utmost  simplicity.  The  students  understood  him  well, 
and  none  of  them,  I  think,  attributed  his  carelessness  of  manner 
to  a  want  of  earnestness. 


6  GUinpscs  of  L'fc  i>i  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

Dr.  Bird  Wilson,  professor  of  systematic  divinity  (at  that 
time  we  called  it  dogmatic  theology),  stood  very  high  in  the 
opinion  of  the  students,  though  out  of  class-time  he  mingled 
very  little  with  them.  He  was  the  "judicious  Hooker"  of  the 
seminary.  He  sailed  serenely  above  all  the  currents  and  eddies 
of  party  wrangling,  like  the  moon  above  the  clouds.  His  text- 
book was  Pearson  on  tJie  Creed. 

Dr.  Ogilby  was  not  a  very  great  man  among  the  faculty, 
but  a  very  strongly  marked  one.  His  branch  was  ecclesiastical 
history,  in  which  he  succeeded  Bishop  Whittingham.  He  was 
enthusiastically  high  church,  and  bitterly  opposed  to  what,  in 
common  with  the  most  of  his  class,  he  most  uncivilly  called 
Romanism,  and  wis  scarcely  less  hostile  to  Dissenters.  Eccle- 
siastical history  to  this  professor  was  not  so  much  a  field  of 
truth  as  a  forest  of  materials  from  which  he  lopped  cudgels 
for  controversy.     His  very  pronunciation  was   devoutly  English. 

The  professor  of  pastoral  theology  was  the  Rev.  Dr.  Benja- 
min I.  Haight.  He  heard  us  preach  our  sermons  in  class,  and 
criticised  them.  His  only  text-book,  as  I  remember,  was  a 
treatise  on  pulpit  eloquence,  by  Claude,  the  celebrated  oppo- 
nent of  Bjssuet.  I  owe  much  to  this  admirable  treatise,  and 
know  of  nothing  to  equal  it.  Dr.  Haight  was  for  many  years 
the  rector  of  All  Saints'  Church,  in  Henry  Street,  at  the  cor- 
ner of  Scannel.  He  was  a  man  of  grave  deportment — a  via 
media  man,  safe  and  cautious,  and  consequently  not  over  zeal- 
ous or  vigorous. 

Among  all  the  ofificers  of  the  seminary  Dr.  Clement  C. 
Moore  stands  forth  most  distinctly  pictured  in  my  memory. 
He  was  the  author  of  the  famous  verses  beginning,  "  'Twas  the 
Night  before  Christmas."  His  residence  was  a  fine  old  mansion 
fronting  the  seminary  on  Twentieth  Street,  on  a  large  plot  of 
ground  with  pine-trees.  There  it  was,  I  am  glad  to  believe, 
that,  as  he  himself  tells  us,  when 

"  Mamma  in  her  'kerchief  and  I  in  my  cap 
Had  just  settled  ourselves  for  a  nice  winter's  nap," 

Santa  Claus  interrupted  him  by  coming  down  the  chimney  with 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  j 

his  pack  of  gifts.  Santa  Claus  himself  could  not  be  more  wel- 
come to  children  than  was  this  odd  and  genial  man  upon  his 
appearance  in  the  Hebrew  class.  He  was  very  particular  in  his 
ways;  but  one  great  feature  of  his  peculiarity  was,  that  he  was 
utterly  unartificial.  He  was  droll,  but  unconsciously  so.  He 
never  joked  in  the  class,  but  always  something  made  the  class- 
room seem  merry  when  he  was  in  it.  He  was  a  true  scholar 
in  Hebrew.  His  knowledge  of  Hebrew  words  did  not  seem  to 
be  derived  from  the  dictionary  alone.  He  knew  each  word 
familiarly,  and  remembered  all  the  different  places  where  it 
occurred  in  the  Hebrew  Bible,  and  so  could  prove  its  signifi- 
cance in  one  place  by  the  meaning  which  necessarily  attached 
to  it  elsewhere. 

After  this  brief  introduction  of  the  reader  to  the  mem- 
bers of  the  faculty,  I  now  turn  back  to  my  own  room  with 
its  surroundings,  and  to  my  first  impressions  of  the  institution. 
The  main  hall  in  the  east  building  led  from  the  front,  then 
on  Twentieth  Street,  to  the  rear,  and  was  crossed  by  a  lateral 
hall  somewhat  narrower.  My  room  was  in  the  second  story  on 
the  west  side  of  the  great  hall,  with  windows  looking  out  upon 
Twentieth  Street.  Alfred  B.  Beach,  my  roommate,  and  I 
occupied  this  apartment  as  a  study  room,  and  each  had  a  sepa- 
rate sleeping  apartment  behind  and  connecting  with  it.  Beach 
still  lives,  and  is  rector  of  St.  Peter's  Church  in  New  York 
City. 

Across  the  hall,  directly  opposite  our  door,  was  the  room 
occupied  by  Arthur  Carey,  a  memorable  young  man,  whose  in- 
fluence upon  my  own  life  has  been  very  great.  I  shall  have 
frequent  occasion  to  recur  to  him  in  these  pages. 

On  the  opposite  or  west  side  of  my  study,  and  divided  from 
it  by  a  partition  wall,  was  a  room  occupied  by  James  A.  Mc- 
Master,  the  door  of  which  was  reached  by  the  smaller  passage 
already  mentioned.  Beach  and  I  were  thus  flanked  in  between 
two  leading  spirits  of  the  seminary,  widely  differing  in  natural 
character,  but  both  far  advanced  in  that  current  which  soon 
afterwards  carried  so  many  Anglicans  into  the  faith  and  com- 
munion of  the  ancient  church. 

McMaster    was    an    old  acquaintance    whom  I  had  known  at 


8  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 


Union  College.  He  entered  the  freshman  class  of  that  institu- 
tion when  I  began  my  junior  year,  and  I  remember  well  the 
amusement  which,  as  an  eccentric  lad  fresh  from  the  country, 
he  excited  amongst  his  fellow-students.  His  unusual  height, 
for  even  at  that  time  he  must  have  been  very  nearly  six-feet- 
two,  his  thin  face,  prominent  nose,  eagle  eye,  and  impetuous 
manner  made  him  conspicuous  at  once  among  his  companions. 
They  soon  found  out,  however,  that  he  was  no  ever-green,  but 
one  born  to  command  respect.  His  position  at  the  seminary  in 
Twentieth  Street  was  already  a  well-defined  one  ;  and  although 
disliked  by  many  for  his  aggressiveness,  no  one  ventured  to  look 
down  upon  him. 

He  was  the  first  to  open  my  eyes  to  that  peculiar  atmos- 
phere which  all  who  came  to  the  seminary  must  necessarily 
breathe.  Some  called  it  Catholic  ;  some  called  it  Romish  and 
superstitious;  some  called  it  a  spirit  of  reform,  and  return  to 
true  doctrine  and  genuine  piety ;  and  others  regarded  it  as  a 
relapse  into  religious  darkness  and  barbarism.  Whatever  it 
might  be,  however,  the  seminary  was  recognized  by  all  as  the 
focus  of  a  new  religious  life  in  the  Episcopalian  body.  It  was 
not  low-churchism,  neither  was  it  "  high-and-dry." 

McMaster  entered  my  room  one  evening  soon  after  my 
arrival,  and  was  in  conversation  with  me  for  an  hour  or  more. 
He  chanced  to  use  the  expression  of  "  baptismal  regenerations" 
It  was  something  perfectly  new  to  me,  strange  though  it  may 
seem,  for  I  was  now  already  an  Episcopalian  of  some  five  years 
standing.  "What  do  you  mean?"  said  I.  "Baptism  is  simply 
a  ceremony — something  outward  and  visible  to  the  eye.  Regener- 
ation, however,  is  the  new  birth — a  change  of  the  soul  into  a 
new  life.  The  two  words,  therefore,  put  together  signify  no- 
thing." My  friend,  however,  insisted  that  the  two  words  ex- 
pressed very  properly  a  true  Christian  doctrine,  and  one  clearly 
contained  in  the  Holy  Scripture.  He  referred  to  the  baptism  of 
St.  Paul,  and  quoted  the  words  of  Ananias :  "  And  now  why 
tarriest  thou  ?  Rise  up  and  be  baptized,  and  wash  away  thy 
sins."  From  this  text  he  argued  that  baptism,  duly  received, 
carried  with  it  the  pardon  of  sin,  and  that  the  pardon  of  sin  to 
Saul    involved    a    new    birth    given    to    his  soul.     I  doubted  the 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 


correctness  of  this  citation,  and  although  McMaster  looked  for 
it  in  the  New  Testament,  he  was  not  able  at  the  time  to  find  it. 

New  as  this  doctrine  of  baptismal  regeneration  was  to  me, 
and  unconvinced  as  I  remained  notwithstanding  my  friend's  ar- 
gument, the  very  statement  of  it  fixed  itself  so  firmly  in  my 
mind  that  I  remained  for  a  long  time  sleepless  during  the  night 
revolving  the  question,  and  unable  to  dismiss  it.  I  took  the 
first  opportunity  I  found  to  cross  the  hall  into  Carey's  room 
and  ask  him  to  explain  what  McMaster  had  meant. 

"I  see,"  said  Carey,  "that  this  doctrine  appears  to  you  ab- 
surd. One  thing,  however,  you  will  be  obliged  to  acknowledge : 
that  it  is  the  doctrine  of  the  church  to  which  you  belong." 
He  then  opened  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  and  read  to  me 
the  words  of  the  baptismal  service  pronounced  by  the  priest 
directly  after  applying  the  baptismal  water  to  the  child,  which 
run  as  follows  :  "  Seeing,  therefore,  that  this  child  is  now  re- 
generate, etc."  He  then  read  to  me  also  the  passage  from  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  which  McMaster  had  not  been  able  to 
find,  in  which  the  Apostle  Paul  gives  to  the  people  an  account 
of  his  conversion  and  baptism.  And  we  conversed  together  a 
long  while  on  this  subject.  I  was  not  convinced  at  once,  for 
the  idea  of  grace  conveyed  to  the  soul  by  means  of  a  sacramen- 
tal  ceremony  is  something  utterly  inconsistent  with  the  ordinary 
training  of  a  Protestant  mind.  I  could  not,  however,  dismiss  it 
from  mine,  and  it  was  not  very  long  before  I  received  it  un- 
doubtingly  and  with  a  firmness  of  conviction  which  could  never 
afterwards  be  shaken.  It  was  the  entering  wedge  of  a  new 
faith,  far  broader  and  deeper  than  any  I  then  conceived  of  as 
possible. 

A  very  interesting  and  valuable  society  had  been  organized 
amongst  the  students  for  the  discussion  of  theological  and  other 
questions  belonging  especially  to  the  clerical  profession.  Arthur 
Carey  presided  over  it  at  that  time,  and  its  debates  were  well 
attended  by  all  the  prominent  students  of  every  shade  of  opinion, 
puseyites,  evangelicals,  and  independents,  high-churchmen,  low- 
churchmen,  and  no  churchmen-at-all,  all  gathered  together  to 
maintain  their  distinctive  views.  I  was  attracted  to  one  of 
these  meetings    soon    after    my  arrival  at  the  seminary,  and  the 


10  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 


debate  which  took  place  opened  before  me  a  new  world  of 
surprise.  The  question  as  debated  turned  chiefly  upon  this 
point:  Whether  Protestants,  congregated  in  folds  not  covered  by 
the  Apostolic  Succession,  were  Christians.  I  was  amazed  to 
find  that  a  very  strong  array  of  speakers,  if  not  indeed  the  pre- 
vailing sentiment,  was  unfavorable  to  dissenters  as  forming  a 
part  of  Christendom.  In  all  my  experience  I  had  hitherto  never 
heard  such  a  point  raised.  I  was  shocked  as  well  as  amazed, 
and  before  the  debate  closed  I  took  occasion  to  rise  and  ex- 
press my  wonder.  I  was  too  young  in  theology  to  make  the 
necessary  distinctions  which  belong  to  such  a  question.  I  used 
only  the  argiivicntJim  ad  verecundiam.  I  said  that  I  was  the 
child  of  Presbyterian  parents  and  that  I  recognized  several  of 
the  speakers  as  having  been  brought  up  in  that  denomination. 
I  thought  that  some  of  the  opinions  expressed  there  so  strongly 
and  freely  would  sound  very  strangely  at  the  firesides  from 
which  they  had  come.  I  acknowledged  my  inability  to  deal 
with  the  question  very  logically,  but  I  felt  sure  that  there  was 
a  mistake  somewhere.  Some  apologetic  explanations  were  then 
made  for  my  benefit  by  the  speakers  whose  remarks  had  sur- 
prised me,  but  they  failed  to  give  me  any  new  light  or  diminish 
my  wonder. 

Carey,  the  president,  was  the  last  speaker.  It  was  his  part 
to  sum  up  the  debate,  and  he  did  it  with  a  power,  a  gentleness, 
a  thoughtfulness,  and  discrimination,  which  were  characteristic  of 
himself  and  marvellous  in  one  so  young.  He  drew  distinctions  in 
defining  the  words  "  Church  "  and  "  Christian  "  not  very  unlike 
such  as  would  be  drawn  by  a  Catholic  "to  the  manner  born." 
His  doctrine  was  all  on  the  High-Church  side,  and  gave  no 
countenance  to  what  is  known  as  Evangelical  Protestantism; 
but  there  was  no  wounding  in  his  words,  they  had  in  them  no 
personal  sting,  though  some  of  the  speakers  must  have  felt  gently 
rebuked  by  them.  I  conceived  a  strong  admiration  and  love 
for  the  young  man  which  has  never  left  me  since.  One  even- 
ing, shortly  after  this  debate,  I  was  silting  alone  in  my  room 
when  Carey  entered.  I  was  unoccupied.  I  could  not  read 
evenings,  for  my  sight  had  begun  to  fail^a  trouble  which,  dating 
from    that    time,    has    followed    me    with    variations    during    my 


i'» 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  1 1 


whole  life.  Carey  expressed  his  sympathy  at  the  condition  of 
my  sight,  and  asked  if  I  would  not  like  to  have  him  read  to 
me.  I  accepted  his  offer  eagerly.  He  took  up  a  copy  of  the 
New  Testament  which  lay  upon  my  table  and  commenced  read- 
ing from  the  Gospel  of  St.  John,  opening  at  the  fourteenth 
chapter  and  reading  through  to  the  end.  I  had  never  before 
then  appreciated  so  fully  the  solemn  beauty  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures. Carey  was  an  admirable  reader,  keeping  midway  between  a 
tedious  monotony  and  all  extravagance  of  expression.  His  voice 
was  low  and  sweet,  and  had  a  quietness  of  suppressed  feeling 
in  its  tones  which  was  magnetic.  He  made  no  comments  on  any- 
thing he  read,  but  let  the  sacred  page  tell  its  own  story.  I 
never  read  those  chapters  now,  particularly  the  three  containing 
our  Lord's  discourse  after  the  Last  Supper,  but  my  thoughts  go 
back  to  that  memorable  evening,  and  I  see  Carey's  kindly  face 
before  me  and  his  hair  glowing  like  gold  in  the  lamp-light.  His 
influence  over  HiJ  was  at  once  established,  and  I  thank  God  for 
it  still. 

McMaster  was  a  man  of  a  very  different  mould  from  Arthur 
Carey,  although  perhaps  the  most  intimate  friend  that  he  had 
at  the  seminary.  He  also  exercised  a  strong  influence  in  the 
movement  towards  Catholicism.  If  he  did  not  bring  down  much 
game,  he  was  very  effective  in  starting  it,  and  was  always  ready 
for  a  discussion. 

One  day  Harwood,  a  student  belonging  to  an  advanced  class, 
was  visiting  my  room-mate  and  myself,  and  broached  some  opin- 
ions which  Beach,  a  staunch  high-churchman,  looked  upon  as  un- 
sound. Neither  he  nor  I  could  maintain  any  discussion  with  a 
student  of  Harwood's  experience.  Beach  was  glad  to  call  in  re- 
inforcements. He  had  heard  the  step  of  McMaster  passing  along 
che  hall  on  his  way  to  descend  the  stairs.  Going  quickly  to 
the  door.  Beach  called  him  back,  saying,  "  Stop,  Mac,  I  want 
you  !  Here's  Harwood.  He  says  the  Ecumenical  Councils  are 
not  infallible."  McMaster  turned  back  at  once.  He  strode  into 
the  room  and,  throwing  his  long  leg  over  the  back  of  a  chair 
and  resting  his  arm  upon  his  knee,  he  fixed  his  eagle  eyes  up- 
on Harwood  and  vociferated:  "Where  are  your  grounds?" 
Harwood  was  not  a  man  to  be  alarmed,  and  immediately  a  hot 


12  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

discussion  ensued  which  Jasted  until  both  parties  had  expended 
their  ammunition.     Beach  and   I    remained   prudently   silent. 

I  was  not  a  classmate  of  McMaster's,  being  in  my  first  year 
when  he  was  in  his  third,  and  can  give  very  little  account  of 
him  in  regard  to  his  proficiency  in  the  regular  studies  of  a 
seminary  course.  He  was  certainly  a  great  reader  and  was  very 
fond  of  reading  rare  books,  especially  books  by  Catholic  authors, 
or  of  old  fashioned  Anglican  divines,  little  known  to  Episcopa- 
lians of  the  present  day.  The  library  of  the  institution  afforded 
many  notable  books  of  either  class.  Among  these  I  remember 
the  Summa  of  St.  Thomas  Aquinas  and  the  Catena  Anrea.  These 
furnished  him  with  an  artillery  of  heavy  guns  very  formidable 
in  controversy.  While  busily  occupied  in  his  room  one  day 
with  a  volume  of  St.  Thomas  on  the  table  before  him,  he  was 
interrupted  by  a  sudden  rap  at  the  door.  Knowing  it  to  be 
locked,  and  not  caring  to  be  interrupted,  he  made  no  answer; 
the  knock  was  repeated,  to  as  little  purpose.  The  knocking 
still  continued,  and,  it  becoming  evident  that  some  one  was 
there  who  believed  him  to  be  in  and  was  determined  to  get 
admission,  he  turned  his  eyes  towards  the  door  and  saw  above 
it,  looking  down  upon  him  through  the  transom,  the  face  of  his 
brother,  a  Presbyterian  clergyman.  This  brother  was  as  tall  as 
himself,  and  the  door  was  no  screen  between  them.  Seclusion 
was  now  hopeless.  Our  mediaeval  student  was  obliged  to  turn 
his  attention  from  the  Angelic  Doctor  to  Dr.  McMaster,  of 
Ballston*  Spa. 

James  A.  McMaster  will,  no  doubt,  figure  for  a  long  while 
in  the  history  of  Catholic  progress  in  this  country  as  a  promi- 
nent actor.  It  is  probable  that  some  friend — better  acquainted 
with  the  events  of  his  later  life — will  write  his  biography  as  it 
should  be  written,  with  care  and  study.  I  must,  therefore,  be 
pardoned  if  I  pass  over  the  more  serious  events  of  his  career, 
and  more  valuable  traits  of  his  character,  and  endeavor  to  place 
him  before  the  reader  in  such  strong  lights  and  shadows,  and 
such  colors,  as  to  present  a  lively  picture  of  the  man,  but  not 
an  analytical  study. 

I  may  as  well  say  here  that  I  found  myself  occupying  a 
somewhat    anomalous  position  among  the  students  of  the  Gene- 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  13 

ral  Seminary.  I  was  no  churchman,  either  high  or  low  ;  I  had 
taken  no  interest  in  the  Oxford  movement,  and  had  very  little 
conception  of  what  it  was.  The  accidental  circumstance,  while 
studying  law  at  Canandaigua,  of  boarding  and  lodging  nearly 
opposite  an  Episcopalian  church,  and  of  having  its  organist  for 
a  fellow-lodger,  had  led  me  to  join  its  choir  and  attend  its  ser- 
vices. This  I  continued  afterwards  by  mere  habit  until  1839, 
when  I  received  confirmation  at  the  hands  of  Bishop  Onderdonk 
at  St.  Paul's  Church,  Albany.  I  was  at  that  time  prosecuting 
my  law  studies  in  the  office  of  Stevens  &  Cagger,  of  that  city. 
Dr.  Kip,  afterwards  Bishop  of  California,  was  at  that  time  rec- 
tor of  St.  Paul's,  and  I  had  become  a  singer  in  his  choir  and 
the  superintendent  of  his  Sunday-school.  No  questions  had 
been  put  to  me  as  to  what  I  believed  or  did  not  believe.  I 
found  myself  in  the  Anglican  Church  with  apparently  the  full 
liberty  to  believe  what  I  liked  and  to  change  my  belief  un- 
questioned. I  had,  no  doubt,  some  very  strong  religious  convic- 
tions, which  I  think  I  would  have  maintained  at  the  cost  of 
my  life;  but  with  these  convictions  I  could  without  scruple  have 
become  a  Presbyterian  or  Methodist  as  readily  as  an  Episcopa- 
lian. Such  a  man  cannot  be  classed  as  a  churchman.  I  do  not 
think  I  could  very  properly  have  been  styled  an  Evangelical. 
In  the  matter  of  "justification  by  faith  only"  I  was  scarcely  a 
staunch  Protestant.  That  doctrine  seemed  to  me  Antinomian, 
and  consequently  immoral.  I  knew  that  many  Protestants  ac- 
quiesced in  it  who  did  not  practically  rely  upon  it,  but  I  would 
have  been  unwilling  to  profess  it  in  any  distinct  language  if  this 
had  been  exacted  of  me. 

Under  these  circumstances  it  can  easily  be  understood  that 
I  had  no  bias  which  kept  me  from  associating  freely  and 
intimately  with  any  student,  whether  dryly  high  or  evangeli- 
cally low,  ritualistic,  puseyite,  or  of  still  stronger  Romanizing 
tendencies.  I  readily  formed  friendships  with  any  one,  whether 
in  or  out  of  the  seminary,  in  whose  personality  I  saw  the  meas- 
ure of  a  well-made  man.  Among  my  most  familiar  associates 
was  my  cousin,  Charles  Piatt,  who  was  one  year  in  advance  of 
me.  He  was  the  son  of  Commodore  Charles  Piatt,  of  the 
United    States    navy,  and  a    candidate    of    our    western    diocese. 


14  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

In  that  same  class  were  to  be  numbered  William  Everett,  who 
had  commenced  life  as  a  medical  doctor  and  is  now  pastor  of 
the  Church  of  the  Nativity  in  Second  Avenue.  New  York  City. 
Harwood  was  a  prominent  member  of  the  same  class;  in  her- 
meneutics,  ecclesiastical  history,  and  in  almost  everything  else, 
holding  to  German  notions,  a  high  churchman  in  matters  of  au- 
thority and  externals,  but  rather  low-church  in  doctrine.  Har- 
wood is  still  living,  holding  the  rectorship  of  Trinity  Church, 
New  Haven,  Conn. 

Mason  Gallagher  was  also  in  Piatt's  class,  and  a  candidate 
of  Bishop  De  Lancey's  ;  he  is  still  living,  I  am  told,  and  is 
now  a  preacher  among  the  reformed  Episcopalians.  He  was  an 
Irishman,  perhaps  an  Orangeman,  of  the  controversial  stamp,  I 
remember  little  of  his  polemics,  however,  except  that  I  fre- 
quently saw  him  in  the  gymnasium.  We  had  a  room  in  the 
seminary  appropriated  to  gymnastics,  with  parallel  bars,  poles 
and  ropes  for  climbing  and  swinging,  boxing-gloves,  etc.  This 
room  was  much  frequented  by  Gallagher,  as  also  by  Wyatt,  a 
very  gentlemanly  and  superior  young  man,  son  of  Dr.  Wyatt, 
rector  of  St.  Paul's  Church  in  Charles  Street,  Baltimore.  These 
two  I  often  saw  engaged  in  pounding  each  other  with  boxing- 
gloves.  I  remember  little  else  of  Wyatt,  but  shall  have  occa- 
sion to  speak  of  Gallagher  again.  In  the  same  class  was  a 
Greek  from  Greece  proper,  if  I  remember  right,  named  Stamos 
Trikaliotes,  His  classmates  remember  somewhat  vividly  how 
he  preached  a  sermon,  as  an  exercise  in  Dr.  Haight's  depart- 
ment, in  which  some  curious  chemical  statements  convulsed 
both  the  doctor  and  the  whole  class  with  laughter.  He  was, 
when  I  knew  him,  no  Greek  in  belief.  He  was  sufficiently  Evan- 
geHcal  in  his  notions  to  satisfy  even  one  so  profoundly  Protes- 
tant as  Bishop  Mcllvain,  of  Ohio. 

A  leading  and  cultivated  mind  also  in  Piatt's  class  was 
Benjamin  F.  Whicher,  who  died  recently  a  Catholic  layman 
Harry  Montgomery,  afterwards  familiar  to  New-Yorkers  as 
Episcopalian  pastor  of  a  church  in  their  city,  was,  as  a  student, 
very  enthusiastic  in  matters  of  rite,  and  ceremony,  and  ecclesi- 
astical art.  Gardner  of  Maine,  a  very  companionable  man,  was 
in    my    class,    and    a    fondness    for   the   same    studies    helped  to 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  15 


make  our  friendship  more  familiar.  Geer  was  our  organist  and 
choir-master,  and  as  I  met  him  constantly  at  practice  and  sat 
next  to  him  in  chapel,  I  have  him  in  very  distinct  remem- 
brance. Some  other  faces  come  back  to  me  vividly  enough, 
whose  names  I  find  it  impossible  to  recall.  Wadhams,  Mc- 
Vicker,  Donelly,  Gibson,  and  other  of  my  familiar  associates, 
were  all  deeply  interested  in  the  Oxford  movement,  and  not 
much  afraid  of  Rome. 

Carey  and  McMaster  can  scarcely  be  classed  with  these,  for 
their  hearts  already  looked  lovingly  and  earnestly  towards  the 
ancient  faith,  and  I  am  persuaded  that  nothing  but  the  example 
of  Newman,  Oakeley,  and  others  who  were  their  acknowledged 
masters,  kept  them  back  from  the  arms  of  the  church.  Among 
the  Evangelicals  in  the  seminary  I  found  none  that  attracted 
me.  I  had  some  friends  of  this  kind,  however,  in  the  city. 
My  sister,  Mrs.  Jenkins,  lived  in  Eleventh  Street  near  Fifth 
Avenue.  Mrs.  Codwise,  a  Presbyterian  lady  who  lived  in  St. 
Mark's  Place,  Eighth  Street,  was  an  old  family  friend.  From 
the  first  moment  of  my  arrival  at  the  seminary  she  kept  watch 
and  ward  over  me,  suspected  me  of  hair-shirts,  crosses  and  cru- 
cifixes, and  sought  to  introduce  me  into  a  circle  of  Evangeli- 
cals, Episcopalians  or  otherwise.  As  I  frequently  took  tea  at 
her  house  and  spent  the  evening  with  her,  I  met  a  variety  of 
clergymen  of  every  possible  kind.  Each  one  of  these  she  took 
care  to  assure  me  was  eminent,  interesting,  and  lovely.  Now 
and  then  among  them  appeared  some  man  of  note  that  might 
be  called  eminent  if  not  interesting.  Dr.  Cummings,  of  the  i  • 
Church  of  the  Puritans  and  a  noted  anti-popery  preacher,  was 
one  of  these.  I  found  him  very  talkative,  very  bitter,  and  most 
unlovable.  I  went  with  her  one  evening  to  hear  him  preach; 
I  never  heard  such  bitterness,  hatred,  and  bigotry  concentrated 
into  one  sermon.  "Isn't  he  fervent?  isn't  he  charming?"  said 
the  good  lady  as  we  went  out.  I  fear  that  my  reply  shocked 
her  more  than  the  denunciations  of  the  minister  had  done. 
Most  of  the  divines  that  I  met  at  her  house  seemed  to  me 
sufificiently  dull  and  dry.  I  valued  the  good  lady  herself  above 
a  thousand  of  them. 

One  evening,  at  her  earnest  solicitation,  I  accompanied  her  to 


1 6  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

the  museum  on  the  corner  of  Broadway  and  Chambers  Street. 
She  had  been  reading  about  Indian  missions  and  this  made  her 
anxious  to  witness  an  Indian  war-dance.  We  started  early  in  order 
to  pay  a  visit  first  to  the  Bible  Society.  Passing  through  one 
of  the  rooms  she  stopped  me  suddenly  before  a  large  arm-chair. 

"Look  at   that!"  said  she.     "What    do    you  think  that  is?" 

"I  see  nothing,"  I  replied,  "but  an  arm-chair.  I  remember 
one  in  my  grandmother's  kitchen  very  like  it." 

"No,"  she  said,  "it  is  something  more  than  that.  You'll  be 
delighted  when  I  tell  you.  I  want  you  to  sit  down  in  it."  I 
complied. 

"  Now  then,  my  dear  young  friend,"  she  exclaimed,  "  I  want 
you  to  understand  that  you  are  sitting  in  the  very  chair  that 
the  'Dairyman's  Daughter'  died  in.  Think  of  it!  How  do  you 
feel  now  ?  " 

"  Mrs.  Codwise,"  said  I  solemnly,  "  I  am  astonished  that  a  Pro- 
testant lady  so  noted  for  true  piety  and  horror  of  superstition 
should  endeavor  to  teach  me  the  veneration  of  relics." 

"  Oh,  how  provoking  you  are  !  "  she  exclaimed.  "  Is  it  possi- 
ble that  you  can  sit  in  that  chair — that  chair — that  chair !  and 
not  be  thrilled  with  emotion?" 

Our  visit  to  the  museum  was  not  more  successful.  I  en- 
joyed the  war-dance  very  much,  but  the  good  lady  was  nearly 
frightened  out  of  her  senses  by  the  ferocity  of  the  painted 
warriors,  who  were  true  Indians,  and  the  terrible  ring  of  their 
war-whoops. 

"O  let  us  go!  take  me  away!"  she  said.  "I  can't  endure 
it.  I  shall  die.  This  is  dreadful."  I  stood  up  and  looked 
around  upon  the  crowd.  It  was  impossible  to  make  our  way 
out,  and  I  told  her  so.  She  closed  her  eyes  and  endeavored  to 
deafen  her  ears,  and  so  wait  for  the  termination  of  the  exhibi- 
tion. I  presume  that  her  interest  in  the  Indian  missions  con- 
tinued, but  am  confident  that  nothing  thereafter  could  have  in- 
duced her  to  become  a  missionary.  In  truth,  so  far  as  may  be 
judged  by  the  injudicious  measures  she  took  to  lead  my  soul 
in  the  right  way,  she  had  little  vocation  for  the  missionary  life. 

The  great  doctrinal  bulwark  of  the  Anglican  system  is  well 
understood  to  be  its  claim  to  Apostolical    Succession.     One  can 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  ly 


scarcely  claim  to  be  distinctly  Episcopalian  until  he  has  learned 
that.  I  had  not  yet  learned  it  when  I  arrived  at  the  seminary, 
and  attached  little  importance  to  it.  It  did  not  come  up  in 
the  seminary  course  until  the  second  year.  I  mastered  pretty 
well  what  there  was  of  it  in  my  first  year.  It  was  brought  out 
prominently  before  the  New  York  public  in  the  famous  Potts  ~^ 
and  Wainwright  controversy,  which  originated  as  follows  : 

Rufus  Choate,  the  great  Boston  lawyer  and  orator,  made  an 
address  that  year  in  New  York  City  at  the  celebration  of  the 
landing  of  the  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth.  In  the  course  of  his 
address  he  spoke  of  the  Pilgrim  fathers  as  having  founded  "  a 
church  without  a  bishop  and  a  state  without  a  king."  This 
had  occasioned  considerable  merriment  in  the  audience.  Dr. 
Wainwright,  of  New  York,  occupied  a  chair  upon  the  stage  and 
near  the  speaker.  At  the  dinner  which  followed,  Dr.  Wain- 
wright, when  rising  to  compliment  the  orator,  took  occasion  to 
parry  the  joke  by  saying  that  "  while  a  state  could  very  well 
exist  without  a  king,  there  could  be  no  church  without  a  bishop." 
Dr.  Potts,  the  pastor  of  a  fashionable  Presbyterian  church  on 
Fifth  Avenue,  took  umbrage  at  this  declaration  and  opened  a 
controversy  with  Dr.  Wainwright  in  the  public  papers.  The 
arguments  for  and  against  the  necessity  of  a  succession  of 
bishops  to  constitute  a  church,  and  for  and  against  the  claim 
of  Episcopalians  to  such  a  succession,  were  pretty  thoroughly 
discussed  in  the  debate. 

Being  a  greenhorn  in  theology,  I  followed  this  discussion 
with  much  attention.  So  did  Hiram  Walworth,  an  uncle  of 
mine  who  resided  in  Hudson  Square.  I  frequently  spent  my 
evenings  at  his  house,  and  we  took  pleasure  in  reading  and 
canvassing  the  points  of  this  controversy.  The  necessity  of  a 
distinctive  order  of  bishops  to  constitute  a  valid  Christian 
church  soon  became  quite  manifest  to  me,  though  my  uncle 
would  not  admit  it.  His  objections,  however,  were  always 
shrewd  and  forcibly  put,  and  converted  wfiat  might  have  been 
a  superficial  reading  into  a  careful  study.  I  thus  became  for 
the  first  time  a  veritable    Episcopalian. 

It  may  not  be  amiss  in  this  place  to  add  a  few  more  words 
in  regard  to  this  uncle. 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 


His  family  were  Presbyterians,  and  he  loved  to  profess  him- 
self as  a  thorough  Calvinist.  He  was  a  great  joker,  and  this 
profession  was  one  of  his  favorite  jokes.  He  loved  to  put  for- 
ward the  most  hideous  tenets  of  Calvinism  in  their  worst  form. 
He  held  a  pew  in  a  Presbyterian  church  near  by,  but  he  did 
not  think  it  important  to  attend  its  services  with  the  rest  of 
his  family.  When  I  ventured  cautiously  to  rebuke  him  for  this 
he  would  say : 

"  What  should  I  go  to  church  for  ?  I  know  well  enough  all 
the  minister  could  tell  me." 

"You  ought  to  go  there  in  order  to  pray." 

"  What  do  I  want  to  pray  for  ?  It's  his  duty,  and  let  him 
attend  to  it." 

"Yes,  my  dear  uncle,"  I  insisted,  "but  you  need  to  pray 
yourself,  and  maintain  the  spirit  of  prayer  in  your  soul  in  order 
to  save  it." 

"No,  I  don't.     I'm   elected." 

"Don't  be  too  certain  of  that,  uncle.  You  need  to  make 
your  vocation  and  election   sure." 

"Why,  it  is  sure  already.  Don't  you  know  that  full  assur- 
ance is  given  to  the  elect?" 

My  aunt  would  often  interrupt  the  conversation  with  her 
remonstrances,  but  it  was  a  merry  thing  for  him  to  make  fun  of 
us  both. 

I  had  also  a  married  sister  living  in  New  York,  whose  resi- 
dence was  on  Eleventh  Street,  as  already  stated.  I  took  my 
meals  at  her  house  for  some  time  at  the  commencement  of  my 
course,  and  often  spent  my  evenings  there.  She  endeavored  to 
keep  me  safe  against  the  dangerous  influences  of  the  seminary, 
and  was  very  glad  to  read  to  me  such  books  as  she  thought 
salutary.  One  of  these  was  T)'  ^whl^wy's  History  of  the  Reforma- 
tion. No  one  book  ever  did  so  much  to  alienate  me  from  Pro- 
testantism. If  it  had  been  written  by  a  Catholic,  I  should  have 
distrusted  it ;  but  it  was  written  by  a  Protestant,  a  devout  ad- 
mirer of  Luther  ;  one  who  looked  upon  him  as  above  all  others 
the  great  leader  of  that  revolution,  and  divinely  sent  to  begin 
and  carry  on  the  movement.  I  had  been  brought  up  to  look 
upon  him  in  the  same  light.     To  my  sight  he  had  always    been 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  ig 

a  man  of  saintly  character  and  a  hero.  D'Aubigny  keeps  back 
much  of  the  vulgar  self-indulgence  attributed  to  Luther  by 
other  authors,  as  well  as  the  coarse  and  gross  language  which 
appears  in  some  of  his  works.  But  his  Luther  is  no  hero.  He 
is  simply  a  religious  and  political  agitator.  To  my  mind  he  is 
as  much  marked  by  duplicity  as  by  audacity.  I  do  not  con- 
ceive how  any  unprejudiced  and  thoughtful  man,  when  listen- 
ing to  this  history,  could  borrow  the  words  of  the  Evangelist  and 
say  of  this  great  heresiarch  :  There  was  a  man  sent  from  God 
whose  7iame  was  Martin  Luther.  I  felt  that  I  had  been  im- 
posed upon.  The  scales  dropped  from  my  eyes.  I  saw  Dagon 
fall  to  pieces  in  his  own  temple.  To  my  sister's  great  surprise  I 
frequently  interrupted  her  reading  by  saying  :  "  What  sort  of  a 
hero  is  that  ?  Can  a  worshipper  of  Luther  make  nothing  better 
of  him  ? "  I  expressed  my  surprise  in  a  very  similar  way  to 
Arthur  Carey.  "  I  have  had  enough  of  Luther,"  said  L  He 
answered  after  his  quiet  manner :  "  You  would  probably  like 
Melanchthon  better.  He  is  at  least  more  of  a  scholar — more  re- 
fined and  gentle." 

About  the  same  time  I  encountered  an  early  acquaintance 
on  the  ferry-boat  to  Staten  Island.  He  was  loud  in  his  denun- 
ciations, not  only  of  Luther,  Melanchthon,  Calvin,  and  other  re- 
formers, but  declaimed  violently  against  every  sect  of  Chris- 
tians. "  Through  their  false  doctrines  and  hypocrisy  they  are 
demoralizing  the  world  more  and  more  every  day."  "  What 
benefit,  then,"  I  inquired,  "has  the  Reformation  been  to  the 
world?"  He  was  staggered  for  a  moment,  but  replied:  "Well, 
it  was  something  at  least  for  religion  to  get  rid  of  her  old  rags." 
He  was  evidently  on  his  way  towards  infidelity.  On  the  con- 
trary, I  was  more  hopeful  than  ever.  Only  old  clouds  of  igno- 
rance and  prejudice  were  disappearing ;  new  light  was  break-, 
ing ;  and  I  felt  that  I  had  never  parted  with  any  point  of 
Christian  teaching  that  was  positive  and  of  a  nature  to  be 
called   faith. 

I  had  now  so  far  got  to  be  an  Episcopalian  as  to  prefer  it 
before  any  other  church,  and  for  positive  reasons.  This  made 
me  feel  quite  at  home  at  the  seminary.  In  the  next  chapter  I 
will  endeavor  to  give  some  idea  of  class-life  there. 


20  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 


CHAPTER   II. 

STUDIES   AND   CLASS   IXCIDENTS. — HEBREW  ;    EXEGESIS  ;    DOGMA. — 
CUDGELS   IN   AND    OUT   OF   CLASS.— ^LAY   BAPTISM. 

A  FAVORITE  class  with  many  of  the  students  at  the  Chelsea 
Seminary  was  that  over  which  Dr.  Clernent  C.  Moore  pre- 
sided— the  Hebrew  class.  There  was  no  study  to  which  my 
chum  Beach  and  I  devoted  ourselves  with  more  perseverance 
and  regularity. 

In  the  annals  of  the  Chelsea  Seminary  Dr.  Moore  will  not 
figure  merely  as  professor  of  Hebrew.  He  was  a  prominent 
patron  of  the  institution,  and  was  closely  identified  with  all  its 
interests.  Its  very  location  on  Twentieth  Street,  opposite  to  his 
own  residence  and  between  the  Ninth  and  Tenth  Avenues,  was 
a  thing  of  his  selection  and  due  to  his  choice.  He  taught  in 
the  seminary  for  thirty  years  previous  to  1850,  at  which  time 
he  retired  from  active  service  as  professor  emeritus.  In  182  c 
he  was  mide  professor  of  Biblical  learning.  His  second 
appointment  was  to  teach  Oriental  and  Greek  literature.  He 
was  the  author  of  a  "  Hebrew  and  Greek  Lexicon,"  in  two 
volumes,  published  in  1809,  and  other  works.  It  is  a  strange 
thing  that  a  man  of  such  great  and  varied  learning  as  Dr. 
Moore,  so  versed  in  oriental  and  classic  literature  and  a  pio- 
neer in  matters  of  rare  and  deep  research,  should  only  be 
known  to  the  general  world  of  readers  by  one  single  ballad, 
"The  Visit  of  St.  Nicholas."  A  volume  of  poems,  his  only 
published  work  of  this  kind,  was  given  to  the  public  in  1844, 
while  I  was  still  a  seminarian.  This  volume  contains  among 
other  things  some  verses  accompanying  a  gift  of  flowers  to  a 
friend.  That  friend,  Mr.  P.  Hone,  returned  an  answer  also  in 
verse,  which  so  well  specifies  the  various  accomplishments  of 
the  worthy  professor  that  I  need  only  to  give  it  to  the  reader 
in  order  to  furnish  a  picture  of  this  notable  man  : 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 


21 


22  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 


"  Filled  as  thou  art  with  Attic  fire, 

And  skilled  in  classic  lore  divine, 
Not  yet  content,  wouldst  thou  aspire 

In  Flora's  gorgeous  wreath  to  shine  ? 
Wouldst  thou  in  language  of  the  rose 

Lessons  of  wisdom  seek  t'  impart, 
Or  in  the  violet's  breath  disclose 

The  feelings  of  a  generous  heart? 
Come  as  thou  wilt,  my  warm  regard 

And  welcome  shall  thy  steps  attend  ; 
Scholar,  musician,  florist,  bard — 

More  dear  to  me  than  all,  as  friend. 
Bring  flowers  and  poesy,  a  goodly  store. 

Like  Dickens'  Oliver — I  ask  for  Moore." 

The  principal  object  of  our  studies  in  Hebrew  was  to  pre- 
pare us  for  the  class  in  hermeneutics  over  which  Dr.  Samuel 
H.  Turner  presided.  After  reading  the  first  two  or  three  chap- 
ters of  Genesis,  our  readings  in  the  Hebrew  Testament  were 
confined  to  its  Messianic  parts.  These  parts  were  always  care- 
fully marked  out  for  the  Hebrew  class  by  Dr.  Turner  himself. 
Dr.  Moore  confined  his  teaching  strictly  to  the  Hebrew,  and 
the  translation  of  the  parts  thus  marked  out,  but  never  med- 
dled with  the  interpretation  of  Scripture.  The  nearest  that  he 
ever  came  to  this  in  dealing  with  our  class  was  one  day  when 
we  were  translating  the  seventeenth  verse  of  the  twenty-first 
Psalm,  which,  in  the  Septuagint  and  in  the  Vulgate  and  other 
Christian  versions,  reads,  "They  have  dug  (or  pierced)  my  hands 
and  feet."  When  we  came  to  these  words,  the  student  whose 
turn  it  was  translated  the  passage  as  above.  "  Well,  yes,"  said 
Dr.  Moore,  "that's  the  way  we  read  it  in  our  English  Bible, 
but  here  in  this  Hebrew  Bible  we  have  Kari,  which  would 
oblige  us  to  translate  the  passage  as  the  Jews  do,  '  Like  a  lion, 
my  hands  and  feet.'  To  be  sure,  that  don't  seem  to  make  good 
sense;  but  that  is  no  business  of  mine.  I  am  not  here  to 
inculcate  good  sense,  but  to  teach  Hebrew.  Some  learned  peo- 
ple will  tell  you  that  the  rabbins  have  changed  the  text  on 
purpose.      Well,    perhaps    they    did.      I    didn't.      Or,    when    you 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminar)'.  23 

come  to  Dr.  Turner's  class,  perhaps  he  will  tell  you  that  the 
word  got  changed  by  careless  writing  in  Hebrew,  shortening  the 
tail  of  the  last  letter  till  they  turned  the  van  into  a  yoel.  That 
would  change  Karu  into  Kari.  In  that  case,  all  we  need  to 
make  it  right  is  to  put  the  long  tail  on  again.  Then  we 
have  Karn,  and  can  translate  the  passage,  '  They  pierced  my 
hands  and  my  feet.'  Well,  well,  well !  Let  them  fix  it  their 
own  way.  That's  none  of  my  business.  Here  we  have  Kari, 
and  that  means  '  Like  a  lion.'  In  my  class,  young  man,  you'll 
have  to  read  it  that  way.  I  don't  bother  myself  much  about 
old  versions,  nor  old  manuscripts,  nor  old  commentators,  nor  old 
rabbins.  I  am  only  a  layman,  but  I  know  what  Hebrew  is 
when  I  see  it  in  the  book  before  us.     Humph!     Go  on.'" 

I  have  already  said  that  the  Hebrew  class  was  a  great 
favorite  with  me  as  with  many  others,  and  what  we  learned 
there  was  of  the  greatest  advantage  when  dealing  with  Dr. 
Turner  in  the  interpretation  of  Scripture.  I  have  lost  some 
valuable  books  in  my  day,  sometimes  through  lending,  some- 
times through  the  casualties  of  house-cleaning,  and  sometimes 
because  an  eventful  life  has  forced  me  to  forsake  them.  For 
none  of  these  have  I  mourned  so  much  as  for  the  Hebrew  Bible 
which  I  interlined  most  carefully,  in  my  study-room,  with  equiva- 
lent English  words  of  the  good  doctor's  rendering.  I  have 
never  been  able  to  recover  it. 

My  reminiscences  of  this  seminary  are  largely  made  up  of 
scenes  from  Professor  Turner's  class-room.  I  seem  to  see  the 
professor  before  me  now.  I  can  still  recall  him  most  vividly, 
as  he  then  sat  at  his  desk.  He  was  devoted  to  his  class.  His 
earnest  devotion  shov/ed  itself  in  his  eyes,  brows,  mouth,  nose, 
and  in  his  very  hair,  as  he  gazed  upon  the  Greek  Testament 
before  him,  or  bent  his  looks  upon  us  to  gather  in  from  the 
expression  of  our  faces  the  effect  of  his  criticisms.  We  could 
see  his  legs  under  the  desk.  There  his  little  hands  took  a  busy 
part  in  the  exegesis,  pinching  his  trousers  at  the  knees.  One 
foot  or  the  other  was  always  tapping  the  floor  of  the  platform. 
His  feet  were  very  small.  This  we  could  see  for  ourselves,  and 
I  knew  from  his  shoemaker  that  he  was  very  particular  about 
his  shoes. 


24  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

All  this  liveliness  on  the  part  of  Professor  Turner  was  per- 
fectly unaffected.  Indeed,  there  was  something  about  him  that 
always  seemed  to  protest  against  affectation  of  every  kind. 
When  it  was  his  turn  to  preside  at  the  morning  service  in  the 
chapel,  he  protested  against  that  deep-mouthed  throttling  of  the 
words  of  the  service  so  frequent  amongst  his  brethren  of  the 
clergy.  He  carried  this  even  to  an  excess.  In  his  dislike  of 
pomposity  he  actually  danced  over  very  solemn  words.  He 
always  chose  the  short  absolution,  and  made  very  short  work 
of  it,  too.  On  the  contrary,  when  reading  the  lessons  from 
Holy  Scripture,  he  gave  a  triumphant  and  jerky  emphasis  to 
certain  inelegant  words  of  the  text  which  others  are  apt  to  skip 
over  lightly,  through  a  sense  of  delicac} . 

Professor  Turner  had  a  strong  predilection  for  those  stu- 
dents who  showed  a  particular  interest  in  his  class,  and  this 
without  exacting  any  strict  adherence  to  his  own  interpreta- 
tions. Indeed,  there  were  some  of  us  that  took  a  quiet 
pleasure  in  hunting  up  authorities  which  militated  with  his 
views.  He  never  manifested  any  offence  at  this.  Some  dialogue 
like  the  following  would  then  take  place  : 

"Well,  have  you  any  authority  for  that  interpretation?" 

"Yes,  sir;    I  find  Theodoret  quoted  for  it." 

"  Ah,  indeed,  Theodoret  !  Well,  I  don't  wish  to  dispute  that 
Theodoret  is  an  authority,  but  I  must  beg  leave  to  differ  with 
Theodoret  in  this  case.  Does  Theodoret  or  the  commentator 
who  quotes  him  assign  any  reasons  for  their  opinion  ?  " 

The  reasons  being  given,  the  doctor  would  then  continue: 
"  The  authority,  no  doubt,  is  highly  respectable.  I  wish  I  could 
say  as  much  for  the  reasons  assigned."  The  doctor  would  then 
carefully  go  over  the  ground  a  second  time,  without  offering 
the  least  rebuke  to  the  independence  of  the  student,  and  with- 
out saying  anything  to  discourage  free  study,  even  though 
dissenters  should  be  consulted  or  Catholic  authors. 

I  was  one  of  those  who  loved  to  ramble  in  study  of  authori- 
ties, especially  after  my  first  year,  when  I  had  found  out  that 
the  world  of  theological  doctrine  was  broader  and  deeper  than 
I  had  ever  dreamed  of  before.  I  was  even  bold  enough  on  one 
occasion    to    give    a    translation    to    the    Greek   text  differing  in 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  25 

several  respects  from  the  King  James  version.  The  passage  is 
that  of  Hebrews  vi.  4,  5,  6.  To  the  surprise  of  the  whole 
class,   I  translated  this  passage  as  follows: 

'  For  it  is  impossible  for  those,  who  were  once  enlightened, 
etc.,  etc.,  and  are  fallen  away,  to  be  renewed  again  by  penance y 

After  hesitating  a  moment,  the  professor  said  quietly:  "I 
don't  object,  Mr.  Walworth,  to  your  reversing  of  the  sequence 
in  this  passage,  nor  your  changing  the  voice  of  the  verb,  nor 
to  your  using  the  word  penance,  which  may  very  well  be  un- 
derstood as  meaning  nothing  else  than  repentance ;  but  how 
can  'by  penance'  be  given  as  a  correct  translation  of  "■  eis 
mctanoian  '  ?  Eis  is  a  preposition,  and  is  equivalent  to  loito  and 
into,  in  English.  I  do  not  know  of  a  single  instance  where  any 
dictionary  or  translator  has  given  it  the  sense  of  by.     Do  you  ?  " 

I  had  anticipated  this  objection,  and  it  was  my  good  luck 
to  be  furnished  with  one  instance  in  the  English  Testament  it- 
self. It  was  easy  for  the  good  doctor  to  dispose  of  this  point 
in  my  case.  I  had  little  confidence  in  it  and  was  only  amusing  my- 
self. What  struck  me  most  at  the  time  was  the  gentleness,  equani- 
mity, and  even  respect,  with  which  he  treated  my  presumption. 

I  did  not  get  off  so  easily  with  another  friend,  who  took  it 
much  to  heart.  In  our  class  was  a  student  from  Maine  named 
Gardner,  who  was  not  only  a  good  scholar  but  very  fond  of 
hermeneutics,  and  of  all  close  and  nice  study  in  language.  He 
was,  moreover,  a  sincere  Protestant,  albeit  of  the  high-church 
stamp.  Having  occasion  to  visit  his  room  that  same  day,  he 
received  me  with  a  seriousness  that  was  startling. 

"What  is  the  matter,  Gardner  ?  "  I  inquired.  "  Have  you  re- 
ceived any  ill  news  ?  " 

"  O  Walworth  I  "  said  he,  "  I  didn't  think  you'd  do  it.  I 
didn't  think  you'd  do  it  !  " 

"  Why,  what  have  I  done  ?  " 

"I  have  been  anxious  about  you,"  he  answered,  "but  I  never 
thought  it  would  come  to  this." 

"  There  must  be  something  dreadful  in  your  mind,  Gardner. 
What  is  it  ?     What  have  I  done  ?  " 

"  I  did  not  think  you  would  give  such  a  translation  to 
metanoian^penance.     Oh!  it  is  too  bad;    how  could  you  do  it.-*" 


26  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 


"  Well,"  I  said,  "  under  all  the  circumstances,  it  was  a  fool- 
ish thing.  Since  it  grieves  you  so  much  I  take  it  back. .  Come, 
my  dear  fellow,  forgive  me,  and  brighten  up  again." 

But  poor  Gardner  could  not  be  pacified. 

"You'll  end  in  Rome  yet,  Walworth,"  he  said;  "you'll  end 
in  Rome." 

It  seemed  to  me  at  one  time  that  Gardner  himself  was  dan- 
gerously near  the  jaws  of  the  same  great  dragon.  He  was  very 
nearly  led  into  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation  by  a  learned 
work  of  Dr.  Wiseman  on  that  subject.  His  arguments,  derived 
from  a  critical  examination  of  the  sixth  chapter  of  St.  John 
and  from  St.  Paul's  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  (x.  16  and 
xi.  24-29),  seemed  to  me  to  be  very  strong.  What  struck  Gard- 
ner's mind  most  forcibly,  however,  was  the  immense  learning 
displayed  by  Dr.  Wiseman  to  show  that  the  words  used  by  our 
Lord  in  instituting  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  "  This  is  my  body. 
This  is  my  blood,"  must  necessarily  be  understood  literally. 
The  force  of  the  context,  the  circumstances  attending  the  insti- 
tution of  the  Eucharist,  and  the  comparison  of  various  passages 
referring  to  the  Eucharist  before  and  after  its  institution, 
these  arguments  would  seem  strong  enough  to  convince  any 
mind  that  fairly  gives  its  attention  to  them.  Gardner's  fond- 
ness for  critical  learning,  however,  made  him  attach  much  greater 
importance  to  the  almost  infinite  variety  of  citations  from  au- 
thors in  almost  every  language  to  show  the  uses  of  the  verb 
einai,  when  it  is  used  literally  and  when  it  must  be  understood 
figuratively.  I  soon  grew  tired  of  all  this  learned  detail,  the 
most  of  which  seemed  to  me  trivial.  Gardner,  however,  was 
both  attracted  and  alarmed  by  it.  He  carried  these  questions 
to  Dr.  Turner,  who  entered  into  them  with  full  sympathy.  Gard- 
ner became  at  last  convinced  that  the  saddle-bags  were  as  full 
on  the  Anglican  side  of  the  horse  as  the  other,  and  he  got  no 
nearer  to  Romanism. 

I  think  I  caused  some  considerable  chagrin  to  Professor 
Turner  on  another  occasion  when  he  was  anxious  to  show  off 
his  class  at  examination.  I  was  called  upon  to  explain  the 
sense  of  our  Lord's  words  in  "  the  sermon  on  the  mount " 
where,    according  to    King  James's  version,  he  says  to  his  disci- 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  27 


pies:  "  If  thy  right  eye  offend  thee,  pluck  it  out.  .  .  .  And 
if  thy  right  hand  offend  thee,  cut  it  off."  I  interpreted  the 
passage  as  applying  to  an  occasion  of  sin  where  the  dangerous 
temptation  is  so  great  that  there  is  no  reasonable  hope  of  escap- 
ing from  sin  except  by  putting  away  the  occasion  or  flying  from 
it.  The  doctor  was  well  satisfied  with  this,  but  unfortunately 
carried  the  matter  a  little  too  far  by  asking  me  if  our  Lord  by 
this  teaching  ever  intended  that  one  should  actually  pluck  out 
an  eye  or  cut  off  an  arm.  I  answered  that  I  thought  the  ur- 
gency of  the  occasion  might  sometimes  require  such  extreme 
measures,  if  there  was  no  other  way  of  keeping  in  the  grace  of 
God.  The  doctor  was  evidently  much  mortified,  as  some  very 
notable  clergymen  were  present  at  the  examination.  I  had, 
moreover,  been  the  very  one  to  handle  this  passage  at  a  pre- 
vious class  recitation ;  I  had  extended  its  meaning  with  the 
same  literal  severity,  and  the  doctor  had  set  me  right  very  care- 
fully.  He  therefore  counted  on  me  to  do  him  credit  before  the 
visiting  examiners.  His  brows  gathered  with  vexation,  but  he 
contented  himself  with  setting  me  right  once  more.  I  was  sorry 
to  have  grieved  him,  but  I  really  believed  that  in  such  extreme 
cases  as  I  had  proposed  one  could  dispense  with  an  eye  or  a 
leg,  and  even  lend  a  hand  to  getting  rid  of  them.  I  do  not 
give  this  incident  in  order  to  fix  any  interpretation  upon  the 
passage  in  question,  but  only  to  illustrate  the  professor's  gentle- 
ness to  his  pupils,  especially  to  those  who  took  any  special  in- 
terest in  his  class. 

At  times  the  doctor  could  be  petulant  enough.  During  the 
Christmas  vacation  at  the  close  of  the  year  1843  several  stu- 
dents remained  at  the  seminary,  including  myself  and  Whicher, 
also  a  candidate  from  our  western  diocese.  Some  of  us  under- 
took to  decorate  the  chapel  for  Christmas.  We  introduced 
evergreens  after  the  usual  manner,  and  as  profusely  as  circum- 
stances would  allow,  especially  around  the  little  chancel.  Un- 
fortunately, however,  none  of  us  being  low-churchmen  or  evan- 
gelical, and  none  having  any  great  fear  of  Rome  before  our 
eyes,  we  introduced  a  large  evergreen  cross  at  the  centre  of  the 
chancel  railing  and  directly  in  front  of  the  desk.  Professor 
Turner,  who  was  also  dean  of  the  faculty,  having  charge  of  the 


28  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 


buildings  and  all  the  rooms,  was  either  offended  at  this,  or 
feared  that  others  would  take  offence.  He  sent  for  Whicher, 
berated  him  soundly,  and  ordered  that  the  cross  should  be  taken 
down.  Whicher  was  disposed  to  resist  this  order  as  being  un- 
friendly to  the  very  symbol  of  our  salvation,  and  fanatically 
evangelical.  He  consulted  with  his  copartners  in  misdemeanor, 
who  encouraged  him  to  carry  the  case  to  Bishop  Onderdonk, 
president  of  the  seminary.  This  he  did.  Dr.  Onderdonk  ex- 
pressed great  surprise  at  the  dean's  order,  which  he  considered 
very  foolish  and  unnecessary.  He  advised,  however,  that  we 
should  submit  promptly  and  quietly  to  the  dean,  who  was  act- 
ing strictly  in  the  line  of  his  of^ce  and  ought  to  be  obeyed. 
This  ended  the  matter,  but  left  us  feeling  very  foolish.  Episco- 
palians are  not  so  skittish  now.  Ritualism  has  taught  them  to 
face  everything  Catholic  except  good  doctrine.  They  are  pre- 
pared to  put  on  all  the  robes  of  popery  with  the  understanding 
that  nothing  serious  is  meant  by  it. 

It  was  not  very  often  that  anything  took  place  in  the  class- 
rooms to  invite  controversial  discussions.  Dr.  Wilson,  who  pre- 
sided over  the  department  of  dogmatic  theology,  was  a  truly 
learned  man,  and  what  would  be  called  a  very  sound  man  by 
all  except  ranting  evangelicals  of  the  Bishop  Mcllvaine  stamp. 
To  Dr.  Wilson,  and  to  the  excellent  text-book  upon  which  he 
grounded  himself,  I  owe  a  great  deal  of  instruction  in  funda- 
mental doctrines  of  Christianity,  which  I  shall  always  hold  as 
very  precious.  Of  course  I  came  to  the  seminary  receiving  with 
implicit  faith  the  Christian  doctrine  of  the  Incarnation.  More- 
over, I  thought  that  I  understood  it  pretty  well.  In  this,  how- 
ever, I  was  mistaken.  I  found  that  my  knowledge  of  this  doc- 
trine was  very  superficial.  This,  I  believe,  is  true  of  almost  all 
Protestant  laymen,  and  indeed  of  many  of  the  clergy. 

My  course  in  Dr.  Wilson's  class  was  never  completed,  but 
yet  I  learned  there  a  great  deal  concerning  the  two-fold  nature 
of  Christ,  which  helped  me  forward  in  that  way  toward  the 
true  and  only  church  which  I  was  following,  unconsciously  in- 
deed and  slowly,  but  none  the  less  surely.  The  Sacrifice  of  the 
Eucharist  was  not  taught  in  that  class  as  Catholics  understand 
it — a  memorial  Sacrifice   actually  and  visibly  taking  place  before 


G/ii/ipscs  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Scviifiary. 


29 


their  senses;  but  the  perpetual  presence  of  Christ  at  the  throne 
of  his  Father  as  a  victim,  and  so  continuing  and  perpetuating 
his  sacrifice  on  Mount  Calvary,  was  so  vividly  presented  to  my 
mind  that  the  Catholic  Mass,  with  all  its  reality  and  sacredness, 
became  something  easy  to  receive.  Then  come  in  the  solemn 
words  of  our  Lord  on  the  first  Holy  Thursday,  "  Do  this  in 
commemoration  of  me."  Thus  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  ceases  to  be 
regarded  merely  as 
a  thing  of  finished 
and  accomplished 
history.  It  is  some- 
thing still  going  on. 
Although  Christ 
dies  no  more,  al- 
though the  actual 
death  scene  can 
only  be  repeated 
as  a  sacred  drama, 
yet  that  sacred 
drama  is  repeated 
as  a  divine  insti- 
tution, with  a  vic- 
tim present  and  an 
offering ;  it  is  a  ; 
visible  sacrament  \ 
with  a  grace  at-  f 
tached  to  it.  It  be-  f| 
comes  easy  now  to  '> 
take  in  the  thought 


>'    VK,      U*  V-4J   '■*S^«S«-««*        ^\^*"'' 

Life  at  Chelsea  Seminakv.- 


'  One  of  Them." 


that  the  great  Sac- 
rament is  not  only  perpetuated  at  a  celestial  altar  in  the  imme- 
diate presence  of  God,  but  here  also  amongst  us  for  whose  bene- 
fit the  sacrifice  is  made.  It  becomes  a  part  of  our  worship,  indeed 
the  greatest  and  most  solemn  act  of  worship  which  we  can  offer. 
The  thoughtful  mind  makes  progress  in  this  way  from  a  mere 
matter  of  communions  consisting  at  best  only  of  thoughtful  medi- 
tations, to  a  realization  of  the  Catholic  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass, 
The  Hebrews  had  their  altar,  but  the  victims  offered  at  that  al- 


30  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Angliean  Seminary. 

tar  were  only  types  of  the  true  victim  who  was  not  present  ; 
but  Christ  our  pasch  is  sacrificed  for  us,  and  therefore  we  keep 
the  feast.  We  also,  as  the  apostle  sa}s,  "have  an  altar,  whereof 
they  have  no  power  to  eat  who  serve  the  tabernacle." 

Professor  Wilson's  class  and  Pearson  on  the  Creed  came  to 
me  late  in  my  seminary  course,  but  when  they  did  come  they 
did  much  for  me.  They  did  much  to  help"  me  forward  in  my 
struggle  for  a  sure  and  full  faith,  far  more  than  noisier  and 
more  exciting  disputations  out  of  class.  They  did  more  for  me 
also  than  the  less  solid  but  more  controversial  manner  in  which 
our  course  of  ecclesiastical  history  was  conducted. 

Professor  Ogilby  was  a  partisan  scholar,  a  controversialist  of 
the  via  media  school.  To  his  mind  truth  was  something  which 
always  poised  itself  skilfully  on  a  medium  line,  and  at  a  safe 
distance  from  Rome  on  the  one  side  and  ultra  Protestantism  on 
the  other.  Adapting  all  his  learning  to  this  via  media,  as  a 
good  strategic  point  to  fight  from,  he  dealt  out  vigorous  blows 
to  the  right  and  to  the  left.  It  was  dif^cult  to  say  which  foes 
he  disliked  the  most.  Catholics  or  dissenters.  If  he  did  not 
teach  much  accurate  truth,  at  least  he  stirred  up  many  ques- 
tions of  historical  importance,  which  his  students  could  study 
up  and  discuss  outside  of  the  class-room. 

A  little  while  before  I  entered  the  seminary  he  had  been 
party  to  a  discussion  with  Dr.  McVickar,  of  Columbia  College,  on 
the  validity  of  lay  baptism.  Dr.  McVickar  maintained  the 
validity  of  baptism  by  laymen,  which  Professor  Ogilby  denied. 
It  was  one  of  the  first  questions  which  I  encountered  upon  my 
entry  into  the  seminary,  and  it  was  some  considerable  time  b-e- 
fore  I  arrived  at  any  settled  conviction  upon  the  point.  It  was 
with  me  a  very  practical  point,  for  I  had  been  baptized  in  in- 
fancy by  a  Presbyterian  minister;  and  according  to  the  belief 
of  Dr.  Ogilby  and  a  large  part  of  the  Anglican  clergy,  these 
and  other  dissenting  ministers  are  laymen,  having  no  valid  or- 
ders. I  made  up  my  mind  very  early  to  put  the  validity  of 
my  baptism  beyond  all  doubt,  by  getting  myself  baptized  again. 
I  selected  as  the  minister  of  this  new  baptism  the  Rev.  Caleb 
Clapp,  an  alumnus  of  1839,  ^.nd  an  old  friend  of  mine  in  Sara- 
toga, where  he  married    his   wife,    but  at    the   time  officiating  in 


G/ii/ipscs  of  Life  in  an  A)iglican  Seminary.  31 


New  York  as  rector  of  Nativity  Church,  near  the  East  River. 
I  was  the  superintendent  of  his  Sunday-school,  and  he  entered 
readily  into  my  views.  I  reasoned  that  on  the  supposition  of 
my  first  baptism  being  deficient,  no  Catholic  would  ever  dis- 
pute the  validity  of  this  new  one  on  the*^  ground  of  a  want  of 
intention  on  the  part  of  the  minister,  since  Mr.  Clapp  was  a 
firm  believer  in  the  necessity  of  baptism,  and  would  not  admin- 
ister it  thoughtlessly.  Episcopalians  could  find  no  fault  with  a 
baptism  administered  by  Mr.  Clapp,  since  Ihey  could  not  class 
him  as  a  layman.  Baptists  could  not  object  to  it  on  the  ground 
of  my  being  an  infant  and  so  incapable  of  receiving  it.  And 
lastly  neither  Baptists  nor  schismatic  Greeks  could  object  to  it, 
since  the  method  of  trine  immersion  was  carefully  used.  I  find 
the  certificate  of  this  baptism  securely  laid  away  in  a  package 
of  diplomas,  certificates,  and  other  like  papers.  It  is  carefully 
written  out  on  vellum  in  my  own  hand,  with  the  exception  of 
the  date  and  signature.  Some  of  the  most  significant  words 
are  heavily  done  in  imitation  of  Old  English  lettering,  orna- 
mentally shaded  with  red.     It  runs  as  follows : 

'*1[  bereb^  certit^  that  Clarence  Walworth  was  by 
me  baptized  into  the  Church  of  Christ  'in  the  Name  of  the 
FATHER  and  of  the  SON  and  of  the  HOLY  GHOST,'  accord- 
ing to  the  mode  of  'trine  immersion,'  on  Thursday,  the  22d  day 
of   June,  in  the  year  of    our  Redemption    One  Thousand    Eight 

Hundred  and  Forty-three.  ^  _ 

Caleb  Clapp, 

Rector   of  the  Church  of  the    Nativity  in  the  city   and  diocese 

of  New    York." 

I  introduce  this  event  of  a  second  baptism  with  all  its  par- 
ticularity because  it  shows  how  a  neophyte  naturally  felt  bound 
to  entrench  himself  in  a  seminary  where  so  many  conflicting 
opinions  made  the  air  hot  and  lively.  Some  two  years  later 
when  received  into  the  true  fold  by  Father  Gabriel  Rumpler, 
C.SS.R.,  rector  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Redeemer  in  Third 
Street,  New  York,  I  showed  him  this  certificate.  He  laughed 
heartily,  and  said  that  this  made  my  baptism  about  as  sure 
as  sure    could    be,  and    that  I    need    never  trouble  myself  about 


32  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

it  again.  Indeed,  I  never  knew  its  validity  to  be  disputed  except 
by  an  old  priest  who  wished  to  have  a  little  fun.  He  ven- 
tured to  throw  some  doubt  upon  my  being  a  true  sheep  of  the 
fold  yet,  for  want  of  salt.  I  answered  that  my  baptism  had 
taken  place  in  New ''York  Bay,  which  is  sea-water  and  well 
salted.  He  insisted  that  this  salt  bad  not  been  blessed,  and  be- 
sides that  the  rite  used  was  insufficient  for  want  of  the  exor- 
cisms. 

"Come  to  me,"  said  he,  "and  I  will  give  you  the  real  thing 
with  all  the  good  old  ceremonies  that  your  minister  omitted. 
I  will  give  you  the  true  ia/  sapicntice  and  drive  the  devil  out  for 
good." 

Caleb  Clapp,  the  dear  old  friend  who  baptized  me  in  the 
waters  of  the  ocean  with  such  scrupulous  care,  died  in  1878. 
He  clung  to  his  old  parish  of  the  Nativity.  I  never  had  the 
pleasure  to  welcome  him  into  the  visible  body  of  the  true 
church.  That  he  always  belonged  to  the  soul  of  that  church  I 
never  doubted,  nor  that  he  now  rests  in  the  true  fold. 

My  rebaptism  by  an  Episcopalian  minister  is  by  no  means 
a  thing  so  very  rare.  Episcopalian  clergymen  generally  hold 
that  baptism  is  a  necessary  sacrament,  or  at  least  a  ceremony 
"of  very  high  importance.  Another  prevailing  opinion  among 
them  is  that  all  dissenting  ministers  who  have  not  received 
ordination  from  some  bishop  whose  orders  have  come  down  to 
him  regulatly,  according  to  the  law  of  uninterrupted  apostolical 
succession,  are  really  unordained  and  must  be  ranked  as  laymen. 
Baptism  by  such  ministers  is  consequently  only  lay  baptism.  If, 
therefore,  so  they  argue,  baptism  by  lay  persons  is  no  baptism, 
the  baptism  of  dissenters  at  the  hands  of  dissenting  clergy  is 
not  valid,  and  needs  to  be  repeated  when  such  persons  become 
Episcopalians.  When  this  repetition  takes  place  publicly,  and 
especially  if  the  subject  of  this  important  rite  is  a  person  of 
note,  it  finds  mention  in  the  press  and  sometimes  opens  a  pub- 
lic discussion. 

This  took  place  during  my  second  year  at  the  seminary,  in 
the  case  of  the  Rev.  Augustine  F.  Hewit,  now  well  known  as 
Superior-General  of  the  Paulists.  His  father  was  the  Rev.  Na- 
thaniel Hewit,  of  Bridgeport,  Conn.     He  himself  was  licensed  to 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 


33 


preach  as  a  Congregationalist  in  1842,  but  in  the  following  year 
he  was  ordained  deacon  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church. 
Care,  however,  was  taken  to  rebaptize  him  at  Trinity  Church, 
New  Haven,  neither  he  nor  the  Rev.  Dr.  Crosswell  believing  in 
lay  baptism.  This  excited  much  surprise,  the  baptism  being 
performed  publicly  in  the  church.  The  fact  was  sharply  criti- 
cised at  the  time,  especially  by  Dr.  Seabury  in  the  New  York 
Churchman.  On  the  contrary,  it  was  defended  in  the  columns 
of  the  Christian  Witness.  This  repetition  of  so  solemn  a  rite' 
was  occasioned  by  the  fact  that  in  this  case  neither  baptizer 
nor  recipient  then  believed  in  the  validity  of  baptism  when  ad- 
ministered by  dissenting  clergymen. 

All  this  seems  very  strange  considering  that  Roman  Catho- 
lics admit  the  validity  of  baptism  even  by  heathens,  when  the 
intention  is  to  confer  Christian  baptism,  and  the  necessary  con- 
ditions in  rriatter  and  form  are  duly  observed  in  the  cere- 
mony. Dr.  Seabury  notices  this  and  quotes  the  Council  of 
Trent  for  his  authority.  There  is  something  very  queer  in  it 
all,  but  nothing  so  very  surprising.  Episcopalians  in  this  coun- 
try, and  Anglicans  in  England,  are  essentially  Protestant,  and 
their  antics  are  remarkable    when  they   try   to    be    Catholic. 

Enough  for  the  present  of  professors,  and  classes,  and  the 
framing  or  setting  of  seminary  life.  In  our  next  chapter 
Tractarianism  in  America  will  take  on  a  wider  life,  with  Ar- 
thur Carey  for   its    central  figure. 


34  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary 


CHAPTER   III. 

ARTHUR  CAREY'S  CRUCIAL  EXAMINATION. — PRACTICAL  VALUE 
OF  THE  VIA  MEDIA  IN  A  COMPROMISE  RELIGION. — LIVELY 
FENCING  AMONG  THE  EXAMINERS. — CAREY  WARMLY  EN- 
DORSED   AND    EXCULPATED. — "NO.    90  "    SCORES    A   TRIUMPH. 

WHEN  at  the  close  of  my  first  seminary  year  in  June,  1843, 
the  students  shook  hands  with  Arthur  Carey  and  with 
each  other  and  went  home  for  vacation,  few  if  any  knew 
that  Carey's  ordination  had  been  objected  to,  and  that  he 
was  to  be  put  upon  trial.  When  we  returned  to  the  seminary 
at  the  close  of  vacation,  both  his  trial  and  ordination  were 
things  of  the  past,  but  they  continued  to  furnish  the  most  agi- 
tating topics  of  conversation  in  every  part  of  the  United  States 
where  two  churchmen  could  be  found. 

In  no  place  could  it  be  so  much  discussed,  or  contribute  so 
much  to  develop  the  knowledge  of  doctrine  and  the  apprecia- 
tion of  the  real  tendencies  of  Tractarianism  as  in  the  seminary 
at  Chelsea.  It  furnished  thought  to  every  mind  that  cared  to 
think,  and  supplemented  well  the  work  done  in  the  classes  for 
the  next  nine  months.  I  know  of  no  better  place  than  this  to 
introduce  the  history  of  that  trial. 

The  examination  took  place  June  30,  1843,  i"  the  Sunday- 
school  room  of  St.  John's  Chapel,  in  Varick  Street  facing 
Hudson  Street  Park,  beginning  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening. 
Bishop  Onderdonk  presided  ;  and  Drs.  Berrian,  McVickar, 
Seabury,  Anthon,  and  Smith,  and  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Haight, 
Higbee,  and  Price,  composed  the  examining  committee.  They 
had  been  notified  to  appear  at  that  time  and  place  (so  we  find 
it  recorded  in  Smith's  and  Anthon's  pamphlet)  to  try  Arthur 
Carey  and  Mr.  Blank  for  Romanizing  tendencies. 

Mr.  Carey  was  there,  but  Blank  did  not  appear.  Blank 
would    very   gladly  have   appeared,  and    there   would   have  been 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Angliean  Seminary.  35 


fine  fun  during  the  trial  if  he  had  appeared.  He  would  have 
made  the  fur  fly.  Bishop  Onderdonk,  in  fact,  put  in  appear- 
ance for  Mr.  Blank,  whose  real  name  was  B.  B.  J.  McMaster. 
"  The  bishop  stated,  in  relation  to  one  of  the  candidates,  that 
he  would  not  then  be  examined,  as  it  had  been  decided  by  the 
faculty  that  he  was  to  remain  in  the  seminary  another  year, 
and  that  the  only  duly  which  would  devolve  upon  the  presby- 
ters then  and  there  assembled  was  the  special  examination  of 
Mr.  Carey." 

This  is  all  true  so  far  as  it  goes.  There  is,  however,  a  very 
large  mental  reservation  contained  in  the  bishop's  statement. 
It  was  a  convenient  reservation  under  the  circumstances. 
There  was  an  amount  of  truth  attaching  to  McMaster's 
absence  which  it  was  not  prudent  to  let  go  to  the  public. 
Circumstances  have  now  changed.  The  trial  is  now  a  thing  of 
past  history,  and  moreover  the  author  of  these  Reminiscences, 
being  no  Anglican  of  any  sort  of  proclivity,  and  both  the  trial 
and  acquittal  of  Arthur  Carey,  and  the  subsequent  trial  and 
condemnation  of  Bishop  Onderdonk,  which  was  only  the 
natural  and  necessary  sequence  of  this  inquisition  held  in  St. 
John's  Sunday-school,  being  also  things  of  the  past  and  des 
faits  aeeomplis,  I  now  feel  free  to  give  to  the  public  some  cir-  "^ 
cumstances  of  the  case  which  were  then  suppressed.  They  1 
have  already  been  briefly  referred  to  in  my  Reminiscences  of 
Bishop  Wadhams.  I  have  there  simply  stated  that  McMaster 
was  neither  brought  to  trial  nor  allowed  to  be  ordained,  being 
too  heavy  a  load  for  the  friendly  bishop  and  other  friends  of 
McMaster  to  carry.  I  will  now  add  a  few  words  to  show  why 
it  was  so  heavy  to  carry  poor  Mac  through  an  examination 
which  was  sure  to  be  made  public. 

McMaster,  though  an  earnest  man  and  a  most  faithful  and 
good  Christian,  was  very  unlike  Carey  in  many  particulars.  His 
frankness  was  not  like  the  frankness  of  Carey.  The  latter's 
frankness  was  due  almost  entirely  to  his  conscientious  truthful- 
ness. McMaster  was  naturally  frank  and  outspoken.  His 
frankness  was  of  a  character  which  would  not  only  have 
thrown  his  accusers  into  confusion,  but  would  also  have  made  a 
show  of  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop   and   the  whole  examining  com- 


36  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

mittee.  It  would  also  have  made  impossible  the  exaggerated 
statements  of  the  examination  of  Carey  put  forth  by  the 
reverend  protestors  after  the  trial  and  ordination.  It  would  also 
have  made  a  great  difference  in  the  explanatory  papers  of  the 
reverend  doctors  who  sustained  Carey,  and  which,  without 
denying  anything  true  or  affirming  anything  untrue,  yet  made 
a  liberal  use  of  the  various  means  of  walking  around  the  facts 
which  critics  sometimes  think  they  find  in  the  moral  theology 
of  St.  Alphonsus  Liguori. 

Dr.  Seabury,  Dr.  McVickar,  Dr.  Berrian,  and  the  Rev. 
Messrs.  Haight,  Higbee,  and  Price,  all  put  forth  either  pam- 
phlets, sermons,  or  newspaper  explanations,  for  the  purpose  of 
giving  their  several  versions  of  Carey's  answers  to  the  trouble- 
some questions  proposed  to  him  on  his  examination  in  order  to 
show  what  his  real  belief  was;  that  is  to  say,  whether  he  was 
a  genuine  Episcopalian  or  a  candidate  with  Romanizing  ten- 
dencies. The  statements  of  these  gentlemen  must  necessarily  be 
taken  for  true,  so  far  as  tJicy  go.  Their  well  known  characters 
place  them  above  all  suspicion  of  any  wilfully  false  statement. 

Truth,  historic  truth,  however,  obliges  one,  at  this  late  date, 
who  knew  Carey  well,  and  from  a  closer  intimacy  with  him 
than  any  of  these  gentlemen  had,  to  say  that  not  one  of  these 
pamphlets  contains  a  full  and  fair  representation  of  Carey's  real 
sentiments.  Moreover,  I  knew  Carey  too  well  to  admit  that  he 
made  a  single  reply  to  the  many  close  questions  which  were  so 
laboriously  and  painfully  pressed  upon  him  which  was  not 
true,  candid,  and  open.  Any  mental  reservation  which  he 
employed  upon  his  examination,  and  every  cautious  distinction 
of  words  which  he  used,  was  made  only  to  prevent  misunder- 
standing on  the  part  of  his  examiners,  or  on  the  part  of  the 
less  learned  and  less  disciplined  minds  of  the  public.  I  know 
him  to  have  been  trained  to  all  the  niceties  of  distinction 
in  language  which  are  necessary  to  constitute  a  man  of  true 
learning;  but  I  know  him  also  to  have  been  "an  Israelite,  in- 
deed, in  whom  there  was  no  guile."  He  had  no  strong  preju- 
dices against  the  ancient  Church  Catholic  and  Roman.  He  had 
no  bigotry  in  his  heart  against  Catholics,  whom  he  looked  upon 
as  brethren,  although  by  untoward  circumstances    separated  and 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  37 

estranged  from  himself  and  from  the  Anglican  communion. 
But  I  know  that  at  that  time,  like  McMaster  and  Wadhams, 
and  many  more  of  us  who  afterwards  became  Catholics,  he  was 
faithful  and  true  to  that  communion  to  which  he  still  clung. 
His  examination  was  a  veritable  persecution,  although  doubt- 
less not  so  intended  by  the  generality  of  his  accusers. 

I  wish  I  could  say  as  much  of  his  examiners.  I  knew  them 
all,  with  the  exception  of  the  Rev.  Mr,  Price,  of  St.  Stephen's. 
If  I  ever  had  any  intercourse  with  him,  it  was  slight  and  has 
since  passed  away  from  my  memory.  All  the  others  I  knew, 
and  my  memory  retains  nothing  of  any  of  them  unworthy  of  a 
Christian  man  or  gentleman.  This  still  leaves  me  room  to  say 
that  I  consider  their  published  pamphlets  to  be  no  full  and 
frank  record  of  Carey's  examination,  nor  of  his  real  sentiments 
in  respect  to  the  Catholic    Church. 

This  obliges  me  also  to  say  that  I  have  no  desire  to  find 
fault  with  these  gentlemen  for  the  reserve  which  they  have 
maintained  in  their  statements  to  the  public  of  the  inquisitorial 
questions  put  to  Carey  and  of  his  replies.  They  too  had  be- 
hind them,  in  their  congregations  or  in  the  general  public,  in- 
quisitors who  were  examining  them  closely  and  many  of  them 
in  an  unfriendly  spirit.  They  had  a  right  to  practise  such  re- 
serve as  every  man,  however  conscientious,  may  and  must,  at 
times,  practise. 

No  man  can  understand  the  frank  sincerity  of  Arthur  Carey 
upon  his  trial  who  does  not  rightly  understand  how  the  Angli- 
can Church  was  founded.  It  was  founded  by  the  nervous  hand 
of  Queen  Elizabeth.  She  was  the  Queen  of  England — she  felt 
herself  every  inch  a  queen.  She  was  determined  to  be  the 
queen  of  everything  in  England.  She  was  determined  that 
England's  religion  should  be  English,  and  she  believed  the  best 
way  to  make  it  so  was  to  have  an  English  Church  to  be  ruled 
in  all  things  by  England's  government  and  queen.  She  must  be 
considered,  therefore,  as  really  the  founder  and  really  the  head 
of  the  Anglican  Church.  She  herself  and  a  large  body  of  her  sub- 
jects were,  so  far  as  concerned  doctrine,  strongly  biased  in  favor 
of  the  doctrines  of  the  ancient  church.  She  would  gladly  have  had 
her  church  purely  Catholic   and  united  in  one  faith.     She  would 


38  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

have  no  pope,  however,  but  herself  to  cement  that  union.  On 
the  other  hand,  a  large  part  of  her  subjects  were  not  Catholic. 
They  not  only  hated  that  ancient  Roman  See  which  was  the 
sedes  Petri,  but  they  hated  also,  for  the  most  part,  that  old 
established  body  of  doctrine  which  constitutes  the  fides  Petri. 
In  other  words,  they  were  Protestants.  They  disliked  the  very 
name  of  Catholic,  except  when  carefully  explained  away. 

Nothing  but  a  compromise  could  bridge  over  this  great  dif- 
ference between  her  subjects,  and  she  bridged  it  with  such  a 
compromise.  All  Englishmen  who  were  prominent  enough  to 
be  reached  by  persecution  were  forced  by  their  fears  into  this 
compromise.  This  compromise  is  to  be  found  in  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer.  In  it  the  catechism  is,  so  far  as  it  goes,  Cath- 
olic. So  is  the  baptismal  service  and  other  special  rites.  So, 
mainly,  is  the  entire  ordinal  of  its  worship.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  Englishmen  of  Protestant  proclivities  were  propitiated  by 
the  "Thirty-nine  Articles,"  which  always  thunder,  or  seem  to 
thunder,  against  Roman  Catholic  doctrine.  To  hold  these  op- 
posing factions  in  harmony  both  Articles  and  Liturgy  are  so 
skilfully  hammered  out  that  all  parties,  both  Catholics  and  Pro- 
testants, by  using  the  large  latitude  always  practically  allowed 
them,  may  arrange  their  consciences  comfortably  upon  the  same 
liturgies  and  formulas.  They  were  so  expected  to  do  in  the 
beginning,  and  this  liberty  has  at  all  times  been  allowed  and 
freely  utilized. 

"  The  Reformation  of  the  Anglican  Church,  as  completed 
and  established  under  Queen  Elizabeth,"  said  the  Quarterly 
Christian  Spectator  for  October,  1843,  "was  distinctly  designed 
not  to  expel  or  exclude  from  the  ministry  of  the  church  such 
men  as  Mr.  Carey.  A  strong  infusion  of  sound  evangelical  or 
Protestant  doctrine  was  put  into  the  articles  and  the  homilies, 
and  evangelical  preaching  was  tolerated,  provided  the  preacher 
would  closely  conform  to  the  canons  and  the  rubrics.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  liturgy,  and  to  some  extent  the  homilits,  and 
even  the  articles,  were,  we  do  not  say  Popish  or  Romish,  but 
'Catholic';  and  no  pains  were  spared  to  conciliate  and  retain 
in  the  church  every  man  who  was  willing  to  renounce  the  pope's 
supremacy,    to    subscribe    the    articles,  to    obey  the  canons,  and 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  39 

to  perform  the  worship  of  the  liturgy  as  purified  and  translated. 
Thus  the  reformation  of  the  English  Church  was  essentially  a 
compromise,  or  an  attempted  compromise,  between  opposite 
opinions.  It  was  designed  to  include,  on  the  one  hand  the 
most  extreme  Protestantism  short  of  that  which  rejected  the 
hierarchy,  the  vestments,  and  the  ceremonies,  and  on  the  other 
hand  the  most  extreme  Catholicity  short  of  Romanism." 

John  Henry  Newman's  famous  "Tract  No.  90"  was  professed- 
ly written  to  show  how  Catholics  in  the  Anglican  Church  are  not 
bound  to  interpret  and  subscribe  to  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  in 
a  Protestant  sense,  but  may  fairly  give  to  its  language  any  lit- 
eral sense  which  favors  the  more  ancient  and  Catholic  belief. 
This  Carey  also  firmly  believed,  and  on  this  belief  all  his  an- 
swers to  the  questions  proposed  by  his  accusers  were  based. 
Before,  however,  we  proceed  to  give  the  details  of  that  trial  it 
may  be  well  to  make  a  few  more  words  of  explanation. 

Americans  who  remember  Barnum's  museum  or  his  menage- 
ries will  understand  what  I  mean  when  I  say  that  the  Angli- 
can Church  constitutes  what  Barnum  would  have  called  "  A  Hap- 
py Family,"  in  religion.  A  happy  family,  according  to  Bar- 
num's phraseology,  was  a  group  of  various  animals,  by  nature 
most  hostile  to  each  other,  shut  up  in  one  cage  and  obliged 
per  force  to  keep  peace.  A  dog  was  made  to  dwell  in  apparent 
harmony  with  a  cat,  a  cat  with  a  mouse  and  bird.  A  monkey 
kept  peace  with  a  parrot.  The  parrot  whistled  to  call  the  dog, 
who  wagged  his  tail  at  the  call  while  he  playfully  pretended  to 
bite  the  cat,  who  shov/ed  no  signs  of  fear. 

A  happy  family  of  discordant  elements  may  be  constituted 
naturally,  as,  for  instance,  by  the  fear  of  a  strong  and  common 
enemy.  Thus,  on  the  Western  prairies  may  sometimes  be  seen 
coming  out  of  the  same  burrow,  or  sitting  quietly  at  its  mouth, 
a  prairie-dog,  a  rattlesnake,  a  little  horned  owl,  and  sometimes 
also  a  rabbit  called  by  the  Western  settlers  "  a  cotton-tail."  For 
the  same  reason,  so  long  as  the  Catholic  Church  remained  pow- 
erful in  England,  Catholic  schismatics  and  Protestant  heretics 
burrowed  together,  and  smoked  together  the  pipe  of  peace  with 
each  other.  So  soon,  however,  as  the  supreme  rule  of  the  Ro- 
man See  ceased  to  be  a  power  in   England,  having  been  crushed 


40  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

out  by  blood  and  sequestration,  it  became  necessary  for  a  royal 
Barnum  to  come  in  and  keep  peace  among  the  discordant  sects 
of  Protestantism  by  the  strong  hand  of  power. 

The  English  Church  was  constituted  as  a  department  under 
the  British  Constitution,  and  no  fighting  could  be  allowed  in  it 
except  a  large  latitude  of  thought  and  debate,  which  must  not 
disturb  the  established  supremacy  of  the  English  crown  in  all 
practical  matters.  Doctrine  was,  therefore,  made  to  be  of  little 
value  in  the  Anglican  Church.  Unity  in  a  church  so  constituted 
could  never  mean  a  unity  in  point  of  faith  ;  apostolicity  could 
never  mean  the  faith  of  the  Apostles  remaining  unchanged  in 
all  ages;  Catholicity  could  never  mean  a  common  belief  in  all 
nations  and  in  all  countries  ;  no  standard  of  holiness  could  be 
maintained  which  should  interfere  with  appointments  to  of^ces 
and  livings,  or  the  right  of  communion  to  any  loyal  British 
subject,  whatever  he  might  do,  or  whatever  he  might  be- 
lieve. 

Out  of  this  compromise,  so  strange  to  reason,  but  which  a 
long  experience  has  shown  to  be  practically  successful,  has 
grown  very  naturally  a  certain  principle,  or  at  least  motto,  among 
Anglicans  for  finding  the  truth  in  religious  doctrine  which  is 
known  by  the  name  of  the  via  media.  Every  Anglican  that  is 
really  and  thoroughly  a  typical  man  in  his  church  is  a  via  me- 
dia man. 
..  For  a    preacher    to  confine  himself    too  much  to  the  Thirty- 

^Ij      nine  Articles,  and  to  insist  upon  the  most  literal  acceptation  of 
|i      their  wording,  shows    an    inclination   to  ultra-Protestantism.     To 
j      make  too  much  of   the  strong    flavor    of    old  Catholic  doctrines, 
I      which  is  found  in  the  ritual    of    the  Comrtion  Prayer  Book,  and 
especially  to  evince  a  pleasure  in  finding  this    to  conform  in  so 
many  respects  to    the    sentiments    and    worship    of    Catholics,  is 
thought    by    Low-Churchmen    to    show    an    inclination    towards 
Rome,  a  thing  which  they  hold   to  be  utterly  abominable.     Yet 
in  their  peculiarly  constructed    system    it    is  a  thing    necessarily 
to    be    tolerated.     Their   church    is   a    religious    society    in    the 
civil    order.     It    is   a    state    church,  and    as   such    must  stand  or 
fall. 

In  the  Anglican  Church    the  via  media  man    best  represents, 


Glivipscs  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Scjninary. 


41 


in  point  of  theology,  that  keystone  of  the  bridge  which  keeps 
the  thing  together.  To  all  who  stand  upon  the  bridge  he  quotes 
as  a  principle  of  security, 

"  In  medio  tutissimus  ibis." 

To  all  who  look  with  longing  eyes  towards  either  bank  he  de- 
nounces Rome  on  the  one  side  and  ultra-Protestantism  on  the 
other.  This  cantiloqnia,  if  I  may  so  call  it,  of  the  via  media 
preacher,  is  frequently  wearisome  to  those  who  look  for  positive 
doctrine.  I  have  known  it  to  become  even  ludicrous.  I  have 
already  said  that  during  my  seminary  course  I  acted  as  superin- 
tendent of  the  Sunday-school  of  the  Church  of  the  Nativity,  on 
the  east  side  of  the  city.  It  was  considered  a  good  idea  to 
gather  the  Sunday-school  children  to  the  morning  service,  plac- 
ing them  in  front  between  the  congregation  and  the  chancel. 
They  were  very  troublesome  to  manage  in  this  exposed  position, 
but  it  was  thought  to  be  a  pretty  thing  to  do,  reminding  both 
them  and  their  parents  of  our  Lord's  love  for  little  children.  I 
occupied  the  front  pew  just  behind  them.  My  duty  it  was  to 
keep  them  quiet.  At  morning  service  one  Sunday  a  French- 
Canadian  officiated;  it  was  something  strange  for  the  little  chil- 
dren to  hear  a  gowned  preacher  speaking  in  so  peculiar  an  ac- 
cent, and  it  made  my  task  that  morning  unusually  difficult.  But 
when  they  heard  him  pronounce,  with  his  strange  accent,  the 
familiar  words:  "My  dear  bretteren,  Rome  is  on  tis  side,  and 
ultra-Protestantism  is  on  tat  side  ;  you  must  keep  in  te  meedle, 
between  te  two,"  the  irreverent  youngsters  could  no  longer 
maintain  the  least  restraint.  They  disturbed  the  good  minister 
most  seriously,  and  made  a  great  show  of  me.  I  was  responsi- 
ble for  their  behavior.  In  point  of  fact  the  via  media,  as  a  way 
of  arriving  at  any  positive  truth  in  the  religious  or  moral  or- 
der, is  always  absurd,  if  not  ridiculous. 

In  order  truly  to  understand  the  positions  of  the  various  ac- 
tors in  this  examination  of  Arthur  Carey,  and  to  interpret  their 
utterances  fairly,  it  is  necessary,  I  think,  to  view  the  whole  af- 
fair from  this  stand-point.  Carey  was  sincerely  Catholic,  and 
Delieved  that  under  the  original    compromise  he   had  a  right  to 


42  Glivipscs  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

be,  and  that,  without  any  necessity  of  attacking  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  or  any  of  its  members,  he  could  honestly  re- 
main where  he  was  and  advocate  Catholic  principles.  Drs. 
Smith  and  Anthon  were  square  Protestants,  and  in  all  positive 
Catholicity  of  doctrine  or  worship  they  saw  the  horns  and  the 
hoofs.  The  rest  of  the  board  of  examiners,  with  certain  differ- 
ences in  point  of  latitude,  were  substantially  via  media  men,  but 
strongly  inclined  to  so  much  of  Catholicism  as  the  Anglican 
bridge  would  hold.  The  Right  Rev.  Bishop  was  very  much  in 
the  same  position,  with  this  additional  responsibility,  that  he 
had  to  keep  the  "boys"  of  the  diocese  in  orcjer,  and  not  let 
them  break  things  or  disturb  the  diocese. 

In  the  evening  of  June  30,  1843,  ^^  already  stated,  the  ex- 
aminers of  Arthur  Carey  assembled  in  the  Sunday-school  room 
of  St.  John's  Chapel,  and  his  formal  examination  began.  It  was 
on  Friday,  less  than  two  full  days  previous  to  the  Sunday  morn- 
ing appointed  by  the  bishop  for  the  ordination  of  candidates  to 
the  diaconate.  It  was  well  understood  by  all  parties  present  at 
this  trial  that  Drs.  Smith  and  Anthon  appeared  not  only  as 
judges  but  as  accusers.  Carey  was,  in  fact,  a  member  for  the 
time  being  of  Dr.  Smith's  congregation.  He  was  a  regular  at- 
tendant at  St.  Peter's,  and  a  teacher  in  the  Sunday-school.  To 
Dr.  Smith  and  his  vestry  he  applied  for  the  required  certificate 
recommending  him  to  the  bishop  for  orders.  This  certificate 
Dr.  Smith,  after  a  close  examination,  had  refused  to  sign. 
Carey  then  obtained  a  certificate  from  Trinity  Church.  Trinity, 
if  I  remember  right,  was  the  cathedral,  or  pro  cathedral  of  the 
diocese,  and  a  sort  of  mother  of  churches  for  the  whole  State 
of  New  York. 

Drs.  Smith  and  Anthon  opened  the  trial.  They  proposed  to 
put  to  the  candidate  certain  questions  which  they  had  prepared 
in  writing,  and  the  answers  to  which  they  wished  to  have  writ- 
ten down  by  Carey.  This  was  objected  to  by  some  of  the 
judges.  They  seemed  to  consider  it  a  threat  of  future  publica- 
tion in  case  that  Carey  should  pass  safely  through  his  trial  and 
be  ordained.  The  bishop  decided  that  these  written  questions 
might  be  put  in  any  order  the  prosecutors  desired,  and  that 
notes  of  Carey's  answers  might  be  taken    and  read  to  him  ;    but 


Gliwpscs  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary ,  43 

that  Carey  should  not  be  required  to  formulate  his  answers  in 
writing. 

The  first  question  proposed  by  Dr.  Anthon  was  the  fol- 
lowing : 

"  Supposing  entrance  into  the  ministry  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  in  this  country  were  not  open  to  you,  would 
you  or  would  you  not  have  recourse,  in  such  case,  to  the  min- 
istry of  the  Church  of  Rome  ?  " 

Objection  was  made  to  this  question  by  some  of  the  com- 
mittee. Dr.  Seabury  said  it  was  a  hypothetical  question  and  a 
trap  for  the  conscience,  and  advised  Carey  not  to  answer  it. 
Dr.  McVickar  remarked  that  they  might  as  well  ask  Mr.  Carey 
whether,  if  he  had  lived  in  the  time  of  the  patriarchs,  he  would 
have  married  two  wives !  Carey,  however,  expressed  his  willing- 
ness to  answer,  and  he  did  so.  He  said  that  the  case  supposed 
would  be  a  painful  one  ;  that  he  did  not  know  what  he  should 
do  ;  that  certainly  he  should  come  to  no  hasty  decision  on  so 
grave  a  matter ;  that  he  should  spend  two  or  three  years  at 
least  in  deliberating  on  the  subject ;  that  at  the  expiration  of 
that  time  he  possibly  might  seek  admission  to  the  ministry  in 
the  Church  of  Rome  ;  but  that  he  thought  it  more  probable  he 
should  remain  a  layman  in  his  own  church,  since  he  was  satis- 
fied with  it,  was  attached  to  it,  and  had  no  disposition  to  leave 
it.  The  two  interrogating  doctors,  however,  insisted  on  a  cate- 
gorical answer,  or  the  nearest  to  it  that  might  be.  Mr.  Carey 
then  replied  : 

"  Possibly  I  might,  after  due  deliberation,  but  think  that  I 
should  more  likely  remain  a  layman  in  our  own  communion,  as 
I  have  no  special  leaning  towards  theirs  at  present." 

I  can  add  some  little  testimony  of  my  own  in  regard  to  this 
point  from  my  remembrances  of  Carey.  A  few  days  before 
this  examination,  when  Carey  was  in  my  room,  I  expressed  my- 
self with  some  considerable  feeling  in  regard  to  a  seminarian 
who  was  thought  to  have  strong  inclinations  to  become  a  Ro- 
man Catholic.  Carey  looked  up  to  me  with  an  air  of  surprise 
and  said : 

"  Do  you  think  it  would  be  so  very  wrong  to  join  the  Ro- 
man Catholic  Church  ?  " 


44  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Atiglican  Seminary. 

I  replied  I  thought  it  would  be  very  wrong  for  one  who 
knew  so  much  as  the  student  in  question.  Carey  remained  very 
thoughtful,  but  pursued  the  subject  no  further.  There  can  be 
little  doubt  that  he  would  have  found  it  dififlcult  to  make  the 
leap  at  that  time  ;  but  I  never  knew  him  to  speak  unfavorably 
of  the  Catholic  Church,  or  of  any  Catholic  doctrine,  or  of  any 
Catholic  as  such. 

Before  the  examination  proceeded  beyond  this  point  the 
bishop  decided  that  any  member  of  the  committee  might  offer 
to  Carey  such  advice,  or  make  such  interruptions  to  questions, 
as  would  insure  a  full  and  fair  trial. 

The  second  question  proposed  by  Dr.  Smith  was  as  follows: 

"  Do  you  hold  to  and  receive  the  decrees  of  the  Council  of 
Trent?" 

Ansiver :  "I  do  not  deny  them — I  would  not  positively 
af^rm  them." 

To  satisfy   inquiries  of  the  committee  Carey  explained  : 

1st,  That  he  did  not  regard  the  Council  of  Trent  as  oecumen- 
ical, and  of  course  that  he  held  its  peculiar  definitions  to  be 
open  points,  and  not  of  faith ;  2d,  That  in  what  he  might  say 
favorably  of  the  decrees  of  Trent,  he  took  the  decrees  in  the 
mere  letter,  and  not  as  interpreted  by  the  Romish  system,  and 
the  concurrent  sense  of  Roman  divines;  and,  3d,  That  he  held 
the  Roman  Church  responsible  for  the  errors  of  her  system,  and 
the  teaching  of  her  doctrines. 

These  explanations,  omitted  in  the  account  given  by  Drs. 
Smith  and  Anthon,  are  given  on  the  authority  of  Dr.  Seabury 
and  others  who  favored  Carey.  Their  substantial  correctness 
cannot  well  be  doubted  ;  but  I  knew  Carey  too  well  to  believe 
that  he  used  the  word  Romish.  I  never  knew  him  to  apply  an 
insulting  word  to  the  Church  Catholic  and  Roman,  or  to 
Roman  Catholics. 

Proceeding  then  with  the  examination,  a  third  question  was 
proposed  : 

"  Do  you,  or  do  you  not,  deem  the  differences  between  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  and  the  Church  of  Rome  to  be 
such  as  embrace  points  of  faith  f 

Mr.  Carey's  reply    was   at    some    length,  and  was    not   taken 


r, 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  45 


down  in  ipsissimis  verbis  by  any  one.  Drs.  Smith  and  Anthon 
report  that  they  understood  the  answer  to  be,  that — 

"  If  these  differences  be  understood  to  be  matters  of 
doctrine,  they  would  embrace  points  of  faith  ;  but  if,  as  is 
believed,  they  are  matters  of  opinion,  they  would  not." 

Dr.  Seabury  says  that  such  a  report  of  Carey's  answer 
seems  to  him  mere  jargon,  and  that  a  young  man  so  well  in- 
structed could  not  have  made  it,  and  did  not.  Dr.  Sea- 
bury's  own  account  seems  equally  jargon  to  Catholics.  Dr. 
Seabury  reports  that  Carey  explained  that  by  the  word  faith 
he  meant  tlie  fundamental  or  essential  faith,  which,  says  the 
doctor,  is  common  to  the  two  churches  of  England  and  Rome, 
the  differences  between  the  two  communions  pertaining  to  the 
superstructure,  and  not  to  the  foundation.  To  a  true  Catholic 
theologian  the  idea  of  a  truly  Christian  Church  building  up 
such  a  superstructure  of  unreliable  faith  upon  a  foundation  of 
essential  faith  is  a  jargon  quite  as  ridiculous  as  that  imputed  by 
Drs.  Smith  and  Anthon  to  Carey.  It  is  absurd  to  represent  the 
Church  Catholic  and  Roman  as  holding  the  same  essential  faith 
with  the  Church  Anglican  and  un-Catholic. 

Carey  is  also  represented  as  having  stated  that  the  differ- 
ences between  the  two  churches  were  more  than  matters  of 
opinion  ;  that  they  were  grave  doctrines,  the  truth  of  which  he 
was  not  prepared  either  to  deny  or  positively  to  aflfirm.  These 
words  are  simple  and  intelligible.  Many  converts  from  Angli- 
canism to  the  true  church  have  formerly  stood  in  the  same 
painful  position  of  doubt.  Carey's  heart  was  honest,  but  his 
soul  was  still  in  the  dark. 

The  next  question  brought  up  was  one  of  these  grave 
points  of  doctrine  on  which  Sister  Rome  disagrees  with  Brother 
John  : 

"Do  you,  or  do  you  not,  believe  the  doctrine  of  Transubstan- 
tiation  to  be  repugnant  to  Scripture,  subversive  of  the  nature 
of  a  sacrament,  and  giving  occasion  to  superstition  ?  If  you  do 
not,  how  can  you  ex  animo  subscribe  the  28th  Article  of  our 
Standards  ?  " 

Carey's  answer,  when  condensed  and  reduced  to  writing,  was 
as  follows  : 


46  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

"  I  would  answer,  in  general  language,  that  I  do  not  hold 
that  doctrine  of  transubstantiation  which  I  suppose  our  Article 
condemns ;  but  that,  at  the  same  time,  I  conceive  myself  at 
liberty  to  confess  ignorance  on  the  mode  of  the  Presence." 

I  have  a  remembrance  of  Carey's  examination  upon  this 
point  derived,  I  think,  from  one  of  the  editorials  published  at 
the  time  in  the  Churchman.  When  Carey  was  pressed  to  state 
whether  he  believed  that  the  substance  of  the  bread  and  wine 
still  remained  after  consecration,  he  replied  that  he  found  a 
difficulty  in  affirming  this  to  be  his  belief  since  there  was  a 
doubt  of  the  existence  of  any  substance  in  bread  and  wine 
apart  from  its  appearances,  even  before  the  consecration.  In 
support  of  this  he  referred  to  the  Philosophy  of  the  Anglican 
Bishop  Berkeley.  This  is  said  to  have  caused  much  confusion 
in  the  minds  of  Carey's  examiners,  and  no  little  merriment  out- 
side. 

In  answer  to  the  next  question,  Carey  said  that  he  con- 
sidered the  denial  to  the  laity  of  the  cup  at  communion  as  a 
severe  act  of  discipline,  but  he  declined,  however,  to  say  that 
it  was  an  unwarrantable  change  in  a  sacrament. 

Carey  was  then  asked  : 

"On  which  church  do  you  believe  the  sin  of  schism  rests  in 
consequence  of  the  English  Reformation — the  Church  of 
England  and,  by  consequence,  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
of  this  country,  or  upon  the  Church  of  Rome?" 

Under  advisement  of  Dr.  Seabury  he  at  first  declined  to 
answer  the  question  as  being  an  historical  one.  The  bishop 
decided  the  question  must  be  answered.  The  reply  then  given 
was,  that  in  some  respects  schism  rests  on  both  sides.  He  con- 
sidered both  churches  in  communion  with  the  Church  of 
Christ. 

Dr.  Anthon  then  read  the  seventh  question  on  the  list : 

"  Is  the  Romish  doctrine  of  Purgatory  in  any  respect  main- 
tained by  our  Standards?"  ^ 

The  bishop  asked  Dr.  Anthon  what  view  lie  entertained  on 
the  doctrine  of  Purgatory  as  held  by  the  Church  of  Rome  ; 
to  which  Dr.  Anthon  replied  that,  "with  due  respect  to  the 
chair,    he   was    not    under    examination."     Carey,  to    whom    the 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  47 

distinctions  in  "  Tract  No.  90  "  were  very  familiar,  answered  that 
he  considered  the  Standards  as  condemning  the  doctrine  popu- 
larly held  to  be  the  Roman  doctrine. 

Carey's  answer  to  the  next  question  was  based  on  the  same 
distinction. 

"  Is  there  any  countenance  given  in  the  doctrinal  Standards 
of  our  church  for  the  idea  that  the  departed  can  be  benefited 
by  the  prayers  of  the  faithful,  or  by  the  administration  of  the 
Holy  Communion  ?  And  is  not  that  idea  condemned  by 
Article  31   of  our  church?" 

Carey's  answer,  as  agreed  to  by  both  friends  and  accusers 
present  at  the  trial,  was  substantially  as  follows :  "  that  he 
supposed  that  idea  was  not  condemned  in  that  article  ;  his 
opinion  being  that  the  language  of  the  article  was  popular 
language,  pointed  at  a  popular  opinion  which  was  held  against 
the  Church  of  Rome." 

Dr.  Seabury,  commenting  afterwards  on  this  question,  is  not 
a  little  merry  at  the  expense  of  Drs.  Smith  and  Anthon.  The 
two  doctors  either  forgot  for  the  moment,  or  were  not  willing 
to  admit  with  many  theologians  of  their  church,  that  "  the 
Eucharist  is  a  sacrifice  of  prayer  as  well  as  a  sacrament  of 
Communion." 

"  How  they  or  any  other  creature,  human  or  inhuman,  on 
the  earth  or  under  the  earth,"  wrote  Seabury,  "could  ever 
have  dreamed  of  the  departed  being  '  benefited  by  the  admin- 
istration of  the  Holy  Communion  '  passes  all  comprehension." 

In  answer  to  the  ninth  question  Carey  said  : 

**  I  do  not,  either  to  myself  or  any  one  else,  attempt  to 
prove  a  doctrine  out  of  the  Apocrypha."  "  The  Holy  Spirit 
may  have  spoken  by  the  Apocrypha,  and  the  Homily  asserts 
the  same  thing." 

The  bishop  here  drew  out,  by  several  questions  skilfully 
put  to  the  accused,  certain  quotations  from  the  Homilies,  sup- 
porting Carey's  view.     Carey  finally  said  : 

"  I  would  not  fault  the  Church  of  Rome  for  reading  the 
Apocrypha  for  proof  of  doctrine." 

Dr.  Smith  next  asked  : 
"  Can  there  be  a  doubt  that,  in  separating  from  the  Church 


48  Glimpses  "/  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

of  Rome,  the  Church  of  England  embraced  more  pure  and 
Scriptural  views  of  doctrine  ?  And  is  not  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church  in  this  country  at  present  more  pure  in  doctrine 
than  the  Church  of  Rome  ?  " 

Anszver :  "There  can  be  a  doubt,  on  the  ground  that  the 
Church  of  England  retained  doctrinal  errors,  viz.,  the  doctrines 
of  Puritanism,     .     .     ." 

Mr.  Carey  said  that  the  Roman  Breviary  and  Canon  of  the 
Mass  were  preferable  to  the  Liturgies  and  Communion  Service 
of  the  Church  of  England.  The  Breviary  contained  more 
copious  citations  from  Scripture,  and  a  richer  variety  of  ser- 
vices. The  Roman  Canon  was  in  closer  conformity  with  the 
ancient  liturgies.  The  Communion  Service  was  deficient  in  not 
having  the  Oblation  and  Invocation.  For  the  purposes  of  con- 
gregational worship,  Carey  was  of  the  opinion  that  the  Angli- 
can Liturgy  was  better  as  being  in  a  tongue  understood  by  the 
people. 

Carey's  answer  to  the  eleventh  question,  "  What  construc- 
tion do  you  put  upon  the  promise  of  conformity  to  the  doc- 
trines, discipline,  and  worship  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  ? "  is  very  ludicrously  reported  in  the  pamphlet  put 
forth  by  the  two  prosecuting  doctors.  They  represent  him  as 
saying  that  "  he  did  not  consider  the  article«s  as  binding  our 
consciences  in  points  of  faith."  Of  course  Carey  said  precisely 
the  contrary.  It  was  precisely  those  declarations  in  the  Articles 
that  were  matters  of  positive  faith,  which  required  belief  and 
bound  his  conscience.  He  considered  that  there  were  mat- 
ters contained  in  the  Articles  which  did  not  present  points  of 
faith,  and  only  required  an  exterior  conformity.  He  quoted  in 
support  of  this  position  many  divines  of  his  own  church, 
especially  the  famous  Anglican  theologian  Bishop  Bull,  who 
says,  speaking  of  the  Thirty-nine  Articles,  that  the  church 
"only  propounds  them  as  a  body  of  safe  and  pious  principles, 
for  the  preservation  of  peace,  to  be  subscribed  and  not  openly 
contradicted  by  her  sons." 

Carey  also  submitted  to  the  committee  that  American  Epis- 
copalians are  not  required  by  any  canon  to  give,  as  in  England, 
a  distinct    and  ex  aniino   assent  to  the    Thirty-nine  Articles,  but 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  49 

only  a  general  promise  of  "conformity  to  the  doctrines  and 
worship  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,"  for  which  he 
quoted  Bishop  White  as  his  authority.  Carey,  however,  waived 
this  personal  right,  and  said  that  he  was  willing  to  give  his 
ex  animo  assent  to  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  as  the  assent  is 
given  in  the  English  Church.  By  this  he  undoubtedly  did  not 
mean  to  give  up  his  right  to  interpret  the  articles  in  the  sense 
given  by  "  Tract  No.  90." 

It  is  impossible  for  me  to  give  the  twelfth  question  on  the 
list  of  Drs.  Smith  and  Anthon,  either  virtually  or  substantially. 
The  examining  committee  seem  to  have  fallen  into  a  sort  of 
confusion  ;  a  variety  of  questions  were  put  by  different  examin- 
ers and  objected  to.  Some  were  allowed  and  some  not.  It  is 
probable  that  whatever  No.  12  really  was,  it  stands  covered  by 
other  questions  afterwards  substituted. 

Amongst  the  answers  thus  elicited  I  may  state  the  follow- 
ing: Carey  said  that  as  to  the  invocation  of  saints,  "he  did  not 
fault  the  Church  of  Rome,  provided  the  invocation  was  con- 
fined to  the  *  ora  pro  nobis,''  or  intercessory  form."  It  is  not 
probable  that  Carey  intended  himself  to  be  understood  that  he 
would  have  nothing  to  say  to  a  departed  saint  except  when  he 
wanted  something.  He  simply  meant  to  express  his  belief  that 
there  was  nothing  they  could  do  for  us,  except  through  their 
interest  before  the  Throne  of  Grace.  The  Pope  could  say  as 
much. 

When  asked  whether  he  considered  the  Church  of  Rome 
noiv  to  be  in  error  in  matters  of  faith  he  replied  : 

"  It  is  a  dif^cult  question,  which  I  do  not  know  how  to 
answer." 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  examination  Arthur  Carey  was 
requested  to  withdraw.  The  presbyters  present  were  then 
called  upon  by  the  bishop  severally  to  express  their  opinions. 
Drs.  McVickar  and  Berrian,  and  Messrs.  Haight,  Kigbee,  and 
Price,  expressed  themselves  as  quite  satisfied  with  the  fitness  of 
Carey  for  orders.  Dr.  Seabury  added  that  he  "  should  esteem 
it  a  privilege  to  present  the  candidate  for  orders,  as  he  had 
sustained  his  ordeal  most  nobly."  Drs.  Smith  and  Anthon's 
sentiments   were  as  decidedly  unfavorable  to  the  candidate  and 


so 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglieaii  Se miliary. 


to  the  conduct  of  the  examination.  The  latter  declared  that 
"in  the  whole  course  of  his  ministry  he  had  never  attended  an 
examination  conducted  in  a  manner  so  painful,  and  in  which 
so  many  impediments  were  thrown  in  the  way  of  his  arriving  at 
a  definite  knowledge  of  the  candidate's  views." 

The  bishop  was  not  prepared  to  give  his  decision  at  that 
time,  but  said,  with  emphatic  dignity,  that  when  his  determina- 
tion should  be  formed  he  would  carry  it  out  without  regard  to 
consequences.  His  decision  was  afterwards  speedily  made  in 
Carey's  favor.  The  next  Sunday  saw  him  ordained.  This  was 
the  practical  application  of  "  Tract  No.  90,"  and  a  momentary 
triumph  for  Tractarianism. 

The  next  chapter  also  will  be  entirely  devoted  to  Remin- 
iscences of  Arthur  Carey. 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  51 


CHAPTER  IV. 

PROTEST  AGAINST  ARTHUR  CAREY'S  ORDINATION. — CENTRAL 
POINT  OF  A  GREAT  STORM. — CAREY'S  FAMILY. — FURTHER 
DETAILS  OF  HIS  LIFE.— ASSISTANT  TO  SEABURY. — EARLY 
DEATH  AND  BURIAL  AT  SEA. — NEWMAN'S  INTEREST  IN 
CAREY. 

THE  ordination  of  Arthur  Carey  took  place  at  St.  Stephen's 
Church,  New  York  City,  on  Sunday  morning,  July  2, 
1843.  Bishop  Onderdonk  ordained  him,  assisted  by  Dr.  Ives, 
Bishop  of  North  Carolina,  and  also  Dr.  Berrian  and  two 
others  of  the  examining  committee.  I  was  present  at  this  ordi- 
nation. In  my  Reminiscences  of  the  Life  of  Bishop  Wad- 
hams  I  have  given  a  pretty  full  account  of  all  that  was  ex- 
traordinary in  the  proceedings,  relying  simply  upon  my  own 
recollections.  I  propose  now  to  give  a  history  of  the  same  af- 
fair drawn  chiefly  from  an  account  furnished  to  the  New  York 
Churchman  of  July  8,  1843.  The  writer  signed  himself  N.  E.  O. 
— Neo-Eboracensis  Onderdonk  (?) — and  is  supposed  to  have 
been  Bishop  Onderdonk  himself. 

During  the  ceremony  of  that  eventful  Sunday,  the  usual  call 
having  been  made  upon  the  people  to  show  cause,  if  any  ex- 
isted, why  the  candidate,  or  any  of  the  candidates,  should  not 
be  ordained,  the  Rev.  Hugh  Smith  of  St.  Peter's  and  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Anthon  of  St.  Mark's,  habited  in  their  canonicals,  arose 
successively  from  a  pew  in  the  middle  aisle  and  read  their  sev- 
eral protests  against  the  ordination  of  Arthur  Carey.  My  father 
and  I  occupied  a  pew  in  the  body  of  the  church  just  under  the 
front  of  the  organ-gallery.  The  whole  scene  was  in  full  view 
before  us,  and  I  have  forgotten  very  little  of  what  helped  to 
make  it  memorable.  I  have  taken  care,  however,  as  already 
stated,  to  fortify  my  own  recollections  by  accounts  of  specta- 
tors, published  at  the  time,  especially  that  of  the  bishop  himself. 


52  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

Each  protest,  says  N.  E.  O.,  had  been  drawn  up  with  much 
lawyer-like  formality,  and  contained  the  accusation  that  the  can- 
didate held  doctrines  adverse  to  those  of  his  church,  and  too 
nearly  bordering  on  popery,  and  referring  for  proof  to  state- 
ments and  circumstances  within  the  bishop's  knowledge. 

The  manner  of  the  reverend  gentlemen  was  slow  and  distinct, 
and,  it  seemed  to  me,  as  solemn  as  utterance  could  make  it. 
When  the  two  doctors  had  finished  their  protest,  "the  bishop 
rose,"  says  N.  E.  O.,  "  and  expressed  himself  to  the  following 
effect,  and,  I  believe,  in  the  following  words : 

'"The  accusation  now  brought  against  one  of  the  persons 
presented  to  be  ordained  deacons  has  recently  been  fully  inves- 
tigated by  me  with  the  knowledge  and  in  the  presence  of  his 
accusers,  and  with  the  advantage  of  the  valuable  aid  and  coun- 
sel of  six  of  the  worthiest,  wisest,  and  most  learned  of  the  pres- 
byters of  this  diocese,  including  the  three  who  are  assisting  in 
the  present  solemnities.  The  result  was  that  there  was  no  just 
ground  for  rejecting  the  candidate's  application  for  holy  orders. 
There  is  consequently  no  reason  for  any  change  in  the  solemn 
service  of  the  day,  and  therefore  all  these  persons,  being  found 
meet  to  be  ordained,  are  commended  to  the  prayers  of  the 
congregation.'  " 

My  own  memory  of  the  event  brings  nothing  to  my  mind  to 
correct  this  statement  of  the  bishop's  words  as  given  in  the 
New  York  ChurcJiman,  with  one  exception.  My  recollection  is 
very  distinct  that  the  bishop's  concluding  words  were:  "And, 
therefore,  I  shall  proceed  to  ordain  all  these  candidates,  not- 
withstanding the  scandalous  interruption  of  these  Reverend  Pro- 
testers." 

The  bishop  then  recommended  them  to  the  prayers  of  the 
congregation,  and  Bishop  Ives  began  the  reading  of  the  litany. 
The  service  went  on  without  any  further  interruption.  It  is 
stated  without  contradiction,  so  far  as  I  know,  that  the  two 
protesting  clergymen  took  up  their  hats  and  walked  down  the 
middle  aisle  to  the  front  door  during  the  litany.  The  rest  of 
the  congregation  remained. 

The  impressions  on  my  own  mind  when  witnessing  that 
morning's  service  still    remain    unchanged.     Believing  himself  to 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 


53 


54  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

be  doing  his  duty  by  ordaining  Carey,  the  bishop  could  not 
have  gone  through  with  his  part  with  more  admirable  tact  and 
dignity.  For  the  same  reason,  if  Drs.  Smith  and  Anthon  were 
right  in  opposing  Carey's  ordination  by  a  public  protest,  they 
were  right  also  in  not  remaining  to  witness  it. 

"  Mr.  Arthur  Carey  has  suddenly,  and  at  a  very  early  age, 
become  a  historical  personage,"  said  the  Quarterly  Christian 
Spectator  of  October,  1843,  i^i  reviewing  these  occurrences.  This 
is  true  enough  ;  and  strange  it  is  that  one  so  gentle  and  peace- 
ful as  Carey  should  suddenly  become  the  cause  and  centre  of  a 
bitter  strife  which  shook  the  entire  world  of  Anglicanism  in  the 
United  States.  The  bishop  and  his  advising  and  consulting 
presbyters  were  suddenly  put  upon  their  defence.  A  matter 
adjudicated  and  disposed  of  by  the  authorities  of  the  diocese 
had  somehow  got  itself  appealed  to  the  whole  body  of  Episco- 
palians in  the  country.  The  bishop  and  all  his  counsellors  who 
had  taken  part  in  Carey's  ordination  were  obliged  to  account 
for  themselves  to  the  public,  or  the  whole  case  would  go  by 
default.  Disapprobation  of  what  they  had  done  was  beginning 
to  be  uttered  semper,  nbiqiie,  ab  o^nnibiis ;  and  unless  they  could 
do  something  to  turn  the  tide  of  opinion  they  were  likely  to 
be  overwhelmed.  We  give  them  credit,  continues  the  Christian 
Spectator,  for  the  boldness,  skill,  and  manfulness  with  which 
they  have  conducted  their  defence. 

Each  and  every  one  of  the  examining  committee  was  obliged 
by  the  public  excitement  to  account  for  himself  by  some  pub- 
lished statement,  explanatory  of  his  action  and  his  reasons  for 
it.  Bishop  Onderdonk  was  the  first,  appearing,  as  we  have  seen,  in 
a  communication  to  the  CJiureJnnan  signed  N.  E.  O.  This  was 
followed  by  various  editorials  of  Seabury  in  the  same  periodi- 
cal, selections  from  which  were  aft6j"wards  collected  into  a 
pamphlet.  Drs.  McVickar  and  Berrian  soon  followed  with  their 
versions  and  explanations.  Opposed  to  these  and  in  vindication 
of  themselves  then  appeared  Drs.  Smith  and  Anthon  with  their 
pamphlet.  Messrs.  Haight,  Higbee,  and  Price  were  also  forced 
to  appear  in  the  public  arena.  Not  one  of  the  committee  was 
able  to  remain  silent.  Not  only  the  public  excitement,  but  a 
special  turmoil  in  their    several    congregations,  forced  them  into 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seniinary.  55 

some  explanation  which  helped  to  add  new  fuel  to  the  gather- 
ing fire.  From  the  pamphlets  put  forth  by  these  reverend  gen- 
tlemen, and  from  the  comments  of  religious  and  other  periodi- 
cals, and  the  columns  of  the  daily  press,  the  history  of  the 
Carey  examination,  and  of  its  more  immediate  and  far-reaching 
results,  can  be  gleaned. 

One  result  of  this  agitation  was  the  establishment  of  a  new 
periodical,  which  took  the  name  of  the  Protestant  Churchman. 
Its  object  was  to  counteract  the  influence  of  Dr.  Seabury's 
ClmrcJiman.  Its  projector  and  first  editor,  the  Rev.  R.  C.  Shim- 
eall,  initiated  a  series  of  sermons  or  lectures  against  Tractarianism, 
for  the  delivery  of  which  he  enlisted  such  prominent  preachers 
as  the  Rev.  Drs.  Tyng,  Anthon,  Smith,  Bedell,  Balch,  Stone,  etc. 

I  do  not  propose  to  follow  up  this  great  wave  of  excite- 
ment, discussion,  assertion,  contradiction,  calls  to  arms,  appeals 
for  peace,  which  filled  for  so  long  a  time  all  our  Anglican  presses, 
pulpits,  and  social  hearths  throughout  the  land.  Some  things  of 
this  kind  will  come  in  later  on.  Our  present  business  is  with 
Arthur  Carey.  Poor,  secluded,  unobtrusive  victim  of  circum- 
stances,  he  was  thus  suddenly  called  out  from  a  sort  of  hermit- 
age to  which  his  soul  had  grown  accustomed,  to  be  a  centre  of 
wonder  and  study.  This  is  no  place  to  leave  him.  It  was  the 
will  of  God  to  take  him  away  quickly  from  the  storm  which  he 
had  so  unwittingly  excited — a  watery  grave  lay  just  before  and 
near  him — and  yet  he  was  too  great  a  part  of  that  great  storm 
to  be  suddenly  dropped  from  these  Reminiscences. 

I  now  propose  to  give  to  the  reader  an  account  of  all  I  can 
gather  or  recall  of  his  whole  life  not  already  given. 

Arthur  Carey  was  descended  from  that  ancient  Devonshire 
family  of  Carys  which  derives  its  surname  from  the  Manor 
of  Cary  in  that  county.  In  Domesday  book  the  name  is  spelt 
Kari.  Arthur's  father,  John  Carey,  removed  with  his  family  to 
the  United  States  in  1830.  John  Carey's  father,  grandfather, 
and  great  grandfather,  all  bore,  like  himself,  the  name  of  John, 
and  were  born  in  London.  This  first  John  Carey,  born  in  1687, 
was  the  oldest  son  of  Francis  Carey,  who  was  born  at  Lisgar, 
Ireland,  and  died  in  Yorkshire.  His  father  was  Patrick  Carey, 
who  was  born  in  Ireland    in   1622,  but  died  at  Teignmouth,  De- 


$6  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 


vonshire,  in  16S4.  Patrick  was  the  fourth  son  of  Sir  Henry 
Carey,  the  first  Viscount  Falkland.  The  various  branches  of 
this  family  scattered  through  England  and  Ireland  are  traceable 
to  their  common  source  not  only  by  their  origin  in  Devonshire, 
but  by  their  coat  of  arms  won  by  Sir  Robert  Gary,  of  Cocking- 
ton.  The  chronicle,  as  quoted  by  Burke  in  his  Landed  Gentry, 
runs  as  follows  : 

"  In  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Henry  V.  a  certain  knight- 
errand  of  Arragon  having  passed  through  divers  countries,  and 
performed  many  feats  of  arms  to  his  high  commendation,  ar- 
rived here  in  England,  where  he  challenged  any  man  of  his 
rank  and  quality  to  make  tryal  of  his  valor  and  skill  in  arms. 
This  challenge  Sir  Robert  Gary  accepted  ;  between  whom  a 
cruel  encounter  and  a  long  and  doubtful  combat  was  waged  in 
Smithfield,  London.  But  at  length  this  noble  champion  van- 
quished the  presumptuous  Arragonois  ;  for  which  King  Henry 
V.  restored  unto  him  good  part  of  his  father's  lands,  which,  for 
his  loyalty  to  King  Richard  II.,  he  had  been  deprived  of  by 
King  Henry  IV.,  and  authorized  him  to  bear  the  arms  of  the 
Knight  of  Arragon,  viz.,  '  In  a  field  silver,  on  a  bend  sa.  three 
white  roses,'  which  the  noble  posterity  of  this  gentleman  con- 
tinue to  wear  unto  this  day;  for  according  to  the  laws  of  her- 
aldry, whosoever  fairly  in  the  field  conquers  his  adversary  may 
justify  the  bearing  of  his  arms." 

Sir  Edward  Gary,  of  Marldon,  in  Devonshire,  who  succeeded 
to  his  title  in  1616,  was  one  of  the  leading  Gatholics  in  Devon, 
and  suffered  unrelenting  persecution  on  account  of  his  faith. 

Descendants  of  his  known  as  the  Carys  of  Follaton,  County 
Devon,  are  Catholic  and  connected  by  marriage  with  the  noble 
Catholic  families  of  Stafford,  Petre,  Clifford,  Dillon,  Kenmare,  etc. 

Other  Carys  of  the  same  Devonshire  stock  are  as  strongly 
bound  to  error  as  Protestant  alliance  can  make  them,  being 
descended  from  Mary  Boleyne,  the  aunt  of  Queen  Elizabeth, 
the  foundress  of  the  Protestant  Church  of  England.  Mary's 
son,  Henry  Cary,  was  created  Baron  Hunsdon  by  his  royal 
cousin. 

Arthur  Carey,  the  most  noble  subject  of  these  Reminiscences, 
was    born,  all  untitled    and    all  unlanded,  in  England,  in  the  vi- 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  57 

cinity  of  London,  June  26,  1822,  and  removed  with  his  father  to 
the  United  States  in  1830.  He  had  two  brothers,  John  and 
Henry.  John  Carey  has  a  son  still  living,  Mr.  Arthur  Astor 
Carey,  of  Boston.  Our  Arthur  Carey,  of  the  Chelsea  Seminary, 
spent  the  first  years  of  his  life  at  home  in  New  York  City, 
with  the  exception  of  two  or  three  years  during  which  he  was  un- 
der the  care  of  Bishop  Hopkins,  of  Vermont.  There  at  the 
age  of  twelve  a  desire  was  kindled  in  his  heart  to  devote  him- 
self to  the  ministry.  This  purpose,  which  his  father  approved, 
never  afterwards  left  him.  I  remember  that  he  always  spoke 
with  esteem  and  affection  of  Bishop  Hopkins,  although  the  de- 
velopment of  Carey's  mind  during  his  seminary  course  led  to  a 
wide  divergence  from  this  early  friend  in  matters  of  religious 
doctrine  and  opinion. 

In  January,  1836,  he  entered  the  sophomore  class  at  Colum- 
bia College.  He  graduated  there  in  1839,  receiving  the  highest 
honors  of  his  class,  and  delivering  the  customary  Greek  oration 
on  that  occasion.  The  only  rival  to  contest  this  honor  with  him 
was  a  son  of  Dr.  Henry  Anthon,  of  St.  Mark's  Church,  then 
located  in  Eighth  Street.  It  is  a  singular  coincidence,  though 
otherwise  a  fact  of  no  special  significance,  that  this  rector  of 
St.  Mark's  should  be  one  of  Carey's  examiners,  his  chief  accuser, 
and  afterwards,  conscientiously  enough  no  doubt,  protesting 
solemnly  against  his  ordination. 

It  was  said  amongst  the  students  at  Chelsea  Seminary  that 
upon  his  graduation  at  Columbia  College  this  remarkable  boy — 
for  in  years  Carey  was  nothing  else — was  offered  a  professorship 
if  he  would  remain.  No  honors,  however,  could  stir  a  soul  like 
his,  and  he  entered  the  General  Seminary  of  his  church  at 
Chelsea.  His  age  when  he  entered  upon  his  theological  course 
there  was  only  seventeen  years  and  four  months.  This  course 
he  completed  in  June,  1842.  The  esteem  created  in  the  minds 
of  the  faculty  at  Chelsea  by  his  extraordinary  talents  and  early 
wisdom,  as  well  as  by  the  moral  beauty  of  his  character,  was  the 
same  as  that  which  remained  behind  him  when  he  left  Colum- 
bia College. 

I  have  no  hesitation  in  applying  to  this  extraordinary  young 
man    the  words  so  often  quoted  in  Catholic  hagiology  to  desig- 


58  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

nate  those  choice  souls  among  ourselves  who  die  in  early  youth 
leaving  behind  the  odor  of  a  holy  life  :  "  Consiimmatus  in  brevi 
explevit  tempora  miilta,"  During  that  single  year  at  the  seminary 
when  Carey  was  my  nearest  neighbor,  which  brought  us  together 
daily,  he  certainly  aimed  at  Christian  perfection  in  his  life.  I 
had  conversations  with  him  on  that  subject.  In  these  I  took 
occasion  to  explain  to  him  the  views  of  certain  perfectionists, 
so-called,  amongst  the  Presbyterians  ;  and  in  particular  those  of 
Dr.  Phinney,  a  president  and,  if  I  remember  right,  the  founder 
of  Oberlin  College,  Ohio. 

At  the  time  when  I  first  knew  Phinney  he  was  a  revival 
preacher  among  the  Presbyterians,  very  earnest  and  powerful 
in  his  eloquence,  argumentative  in  his  methods  of  persuasion, 
and  quite  destitute  of  all  affectation  and  flourish.  Carey  had 
also  reflected  much  on  the  question  of  Christian  perfection,  but 
his  views  were  very  different  from  those  of  Dr.  Phinney.  Per- 
fection, in  Carey's  mind,  was  not  any  acquirable  state  of  sinless- 
ness,  but  a  constant  progress  on  the  way  towards  a  high  mark, 
with  a  changeless  resolution  to  discard  all  sin  even  the  least, 
and  embracing  in  desire  all  the  Christian  virtues.  On  his  re- 
commendation I  purchased  a  work  on  Christian  Perfection,  by 
Law,  the  non-juror.  This  book  I  read  very  carefully  and  en- 
joyed very  much.  If  Law  had  better  understood,  or  at  least 
better  heeded,  the  distinctions  which  Catholics  make  between 
commandments  of  God  which  bind  our  consciences  under  pen- 
alty of  sin  and  punishment,  and  counsels  of  God  which,  mind- 
ful of  our  weakness,  only  invite  us  to  higher  ways  of  perfection, 
his  doctrine  would  be  quite  Catholic. 

Many  a  sincerely  pious  Protestant  takes  pleasure  in  singing 
that  beautiful  song  whose  constant  refrain  is 

"  Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee, 
Nearer  to  Thee." 

Many  such  an  one  drinks  in  much  of  the  wonderful  sweet- 
ness attaching  to  the  words,  and  yet  is  far  behind  either  Carey, 
or  Law,  or  even  Phinney,  in  the  appreciation  of  true  Christian 
perfection.      The    reason    is    that,  unlike    these  three,  they  have 


Glivipscs  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Scvmiary.  59 


not  learned  to  discard  the  immoral  doctrine  of  justification 
by  faith  alone,  without  need  of  holy  works  or  advance  in 
virtue. 

In  Carey's  case,  be  it  understood,  Christian  perfection  was 
something  far  beyond  an  appreciated  doctrine.  His  life  was 
holy  and  lovely.  For  one  year,  during  which  our  chamber 
doors  faced  each  other,  I  saw  him  constantly  and  closely,  but 
for  all  that  sight  or  sound  could  tell,  to  me  his  character  was 
faultless.  He  was  not  within  the  visible  fold  of  the  church,  but 
certainly  many  graces  that  streamed  forth  from  that  church  had 
reached  him  and  produced  their  fruit  within  him. 

He  was  at  this  time,  as  I  have  said,  very  young,  younger 
than  myself.  Not  only  I,  but  every  one  in  the  seminary, 
including  the  most  venerable  among  the  professors,  looked  up 
to  him  with  respect  as  a  man  of  God.  How  short  a  time  to 
gather  so  much  virtue !  It  could  not  be  difficult  for  such  a 
young  man  as  that  to  secure  permission  from  the  faculty  of  the 
seminary  to  keep  his  room  there  for  yet  another  year  after  his 
graduation  when  he  would  arrive  at  the  canonical  age  for  ordin- 
ation. This  enabled  him  to  use  the  library  of  the  institution 
while  he  pursued  his  studies  in  private. 

During  this  time,  apparently  so  quiet  for  him,  that  great 
storm  was  brewing  which  broke  upon  his  solitary  habits  and 
gentle  heart  like  a  thunderbolt.  It  was  then,  as  we  have  seen, 
that  occurred  the  public  charges  against  his  fitness  for  ordina- 
tion. It  was  at  the  close  of  the  seminary  course  in  June,  1843, 
that  his  trial  on  these  charges  before  Bishop  Onderdonk  and  a 
committee  of  clergymen  chosen  for  that  purpose  was  held.  A 
few  days  after,  on  July  2,  Bishop  Onderdonk,  overruling  these 
charges,  ordained  him  at  St.  Stephen's  Church;  and  thus  closed 
his  career  as  a  seminarian,  though  not  quite  all  his  seminary 
associations.  Several  of  his  old  companions,  not  only  those 
studying  at  the  seminary  but  others  still  remaining  in  the  city, 
took  pleasure  in  visiting  him  at  his  new  lodgings.  This  was 
down-town,  at  loi  Charlton  Street.  McMaster,  in  particular, 
passed  many  an  hour  with  him.  They  walked  together,  talked 
together,  and  read  together,  eagerly  discussing  every  new  publi- 
cation that  issued  from    Oxford,  and    prospecting    together  over 


6o 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Angliean  Seminary. 


every  storm  that  threatened    their  church    and  every  opening  in 
the  clouds  that  gave  hope  of  coming  sunshine. 

Carey  was  now  in  orders,  with  a  career  before  him,  a  life  to 
lead  in  the  ministry,  and  high  duties  to  perform.  The  reader 
will  be  anxious  to  know  where  he  was  stationed,  what  charge 
was  assigned  to  him,  what  position  he  assumed.  In  short,  it  is 
necessary  to  give  some  account  of  his  afterlife  in  the  face  of 
that  world  in  which  he  had  become  so  prominent  a  character. 
But  Carey  needed  rest.  He  had  been  in  a  state  of  excite- 
ment. This  excitement 
before  and  after  his  or- 
dination had  been  so  great 
upon  one  of  his  nervous 
and  feeble  constitution 
and  sedentary  habits  that 
his  exhausted  nature  de- 
manded repose.  He  had 
neither  strength  nor  heart 
to  enter  upon  any  labori- 
ous work  in  the  ministry. 
It  was,  however,  no  matter 
of  conscience  with  him, 
and  he  allowed  himself, 
as  usual  in  such  cases,  to 
be  overruled  by  the  urging 
of  Bishop  Onderdonk  and 
the  advice  of  friends.  He 
accepted  for  six  months, 
at  least,  an  invitation  from 
the  Annunciation  Church 
— then  on  the  corner  of  Prince  and  Thompson  Streets— under 
the  charge  of  his  friend  and  patron.  Dr.  Seabury.  He  was  to 
assist  the  doctor  as  deacon,  with  a  salary  of  five  hundred  dollars. 
It  is  easy  to  conceive  that  many  eager  friends,  to  say  noth- 
ing of  many  others  in  a  curious  public,  would  resort  to  this 
church  on  Sundays  to  see  him  and  hear  him  preach.  Of 
Carey's  parochial  labors  I  have  little  remembrance  of  my  own. 
I  had  duties  on  Sunday  in  a  different  direction.     I  was  superin- 


James  a.  McMaster. 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  6i 


tendent  of  a  Sunday-school  in  a  far  different  part  of  the  city, 
near  the  East  River,  and  my  route  to  it  lay  in  another  direc- 
tion. Once,  however,  in  the  autumn  of  1843,  I  made  an  occa- 
sion to  go  and  hear  him  preach.  I  went  in  company  with 
McMaster,  and  well  I  remember  the  day.  The  crooked  streets 
which  served  as  our  roadway  there  would  have  made  the  walk 
to  me  a  perfect  labyrinth,  but  I  had  no  difificulty  to  get  there 
with  such  a  guide.  McMaster  must  have  been  a  regular  attend- 
ant on  Carey's  preaching  during  the  short  time  it  lasted.  He 
knew  every  twist  and  turn  that  lay  before  us.  Bleecker  Street, 
which  we  followed  for  awhile,  serpentine  as  it  is,  seems  to  me 
now  a  good  type  of  our  own  crooked  course  towards  Rome. 
We  were  not  very  long  in  getting  to  our  destination  that  Sun- 
day morning,  for  McMaster's  long  strides  and  rapid  movements 
hurried  me  forward  till  my  breath  was  nearly  gone.  I  seem  to 
see  him  now,  with  coat-sleeves  that  never  reached  his  wrists, 
and  trousers  that  never  covered  his  ankles.  I  think  he  was  a 
little  proud  of  this  peculiarity.  Carey  himself,  who  was 
McMaster's  chief  or  at  least  nearest  model  in  all  things  possi- 
ble to  imitate,  was  rather  negligent  in  his  dress.  At  least  his 
pantaloons  always  bulged  out  at  the  knees ;  I  think,  however, 
caused  chiefly  by  frequent  kneeling.  I  do  not  remember  the 
subject  of  Carey's  sermon  that  morning,  but  I  carry  with  me 
still  a  vivid  picture  of  him  as  preacher.  To  me  Carey  himself 
was  a  sermon,  that  needed  no  words.  He  stands  in  my 
memory  like  a  young  St.  John,  Evangelist ;  or  one  like  New- 
man, Dalgairns,  or  the  Paulist  Father,  Francis  Baker,  my  own 
dear  friend  and  long  companion  on  the  missions. 

Carey  did  much  more  than  preach  in  the  Annunciation 
parish.  His  duties  were  not  necessarily  very  burdensome.  Yet 
to  a  man  like  him,  so  earnest  and  so  conscientious,  to  accept 
any  responsible  position  is  to  begin  active  work.  In  Carey's 
case  souls  were  at  stake,  and  a  life  of  leisure  was  not  to  be 
thought  of.  In  a  letter  to  his  friend  and  fellow  seminarian, 
Edgar  P.  Wadhams,  dated  October  23,  1843,  Carey  gives  some 
account  of  how  his  time  was  occupied  while  serving  as  assistant 
to  Dr.  Seabury. 

"I  preach  on  Sunday  afternoons,"  he  writes,  "and   open  the 


62  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  A^iglican  Seminary. 

church  for  Wednesday  and  Friday  services,  morning  and  even- 
ing, and  saints'  day  services.  I  was  afraid  to  begin  with  daily 
services,  and  the  doctor  thought  better  not  at  present.  He 
says  I  may  do  anything  I  please,  and  he  will  never  interfere 
with  me,  but  always  support  me,  which  is  pleasant,  at  all 
events." 

Dr.  Seabury,  in  a  funeral  sermon  preached  in  the  following 
April  on  receiving  the  news  of  Carey's  death  and  burial  at  sea, 
enlarges  somewhat  upon  Carey's  account  of  himself,  or  rather 
tells  us  what  Carey's  humility  would  never  allow  him  to  say  or 
even  think. 

"  You  saw " — he  said  from  the  pulpit,  looking  down  upon 
many  tearful  eyes  that  met  his  own — "  you  saw  the  sober  and 
serious  earnestness  with  which  he  threw  himself  into  his  paro- 
chial duties.  You  saw  his  faithfulness  in  the  Sunday-school,  his 
solicitude  for  the  poor  and  af^icted,  and  his  love  for  all 
the  members  of  Christ.  You  were  impressed  with  the  natural- 
ness and  quiet  solemnity  with  which  on  week-days  and  holy- 
days,  as  well  as  Sundays,  he  performed  the  services  of  the 
church.  You  heard  his  sermons  on  every  Lord's  Day  during 
the  short  time  he  was  with  you,  and  you  know  the  depth,  the 
simplicity,  and  the  unction  with  which  he  preached  to  you  the 
Gospel  of  Christ.  But  after  all  it  was  not  any  one  thing,  so 
much  as  the  manifest  godliness  of  this  young  man,  the  fire  of 
holiness  pervading  all  that  he  said  and  did,  and  communicating 
itself  to  all  who  heard  him,  which  gave  him  the  hold  which  he 
had  on  your  hearts." 

Not  only  the  fire  of  holiness  which  Dr.  Seabury  attributes 
to  Carey,  but  also  a  wondrous  facility  for  fortifying  his  argu- 
ments in  preaching  or  in  conversation  by  apt  and  telling  words 
of  Scripture,  is  easily  accounted  for  by  the  following  fact.  We 
learn  on  the  same  authority  that  it  was  Carey's  rule  to  read 
through  the  Old  Testament  three  times  and  the  New  Testa- 
ment five  times  a  year.  He  believes  also  that  he  gave  three 
hours  daily  to  private  devotional  exercises,  unless  unavoidably 
interrupted. 

The  funeral  sermon  of  Dr.  Seabury,  from  which  I  have 
gathered  the  above   information   and  much  that   follows,  is   hap- 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Angliean  Seminary.  63 

pily  preserved  in  the  New  York  State  Library,  amongst  its 
bound  documents. 

Carey  commenced  his  services  at  the  Annunciation  Church  on 
the  second  Sunday  of  October,  1843,  about  three  months  after  his 
trial  and  ordination.  "  He  continued  to  discharge  them  until 
the  29th  of  December,  on  which  day  he  took  to  his  bed  of  a 
fever.  After  two  or  three  weeks  the  fever  abated,  and  hopes 
were  entertained  of  his  recovery.  But  the  energies  of  his  system 
did  not  rally;  and  he  was  left  in  a  declining  state  which,  in  the 
judgment  of  his  medical  advisers,  rendered  expedient  a  vojage 
to  Cuba.  For  four  or  five  years  before  he  had  been  affected 
with  incipient  disease  of  the  heart,  which,  though  not  very  ur- 
gent, showed  itself  in  occasional  paroxysms,  when  different  ex- 
citing causes  called  it  into  action.  On  Sunday,  March  17,  he 
was  enabled  to  ride  to  church  and  to  join  in  the  prayers  of 
his  loved  people  for  his  safe  and  prosperous  voyage.  After 
this  grateful  but  most  agitating  service  he  conversed  for  a  few 
minutes  with  some  of  his  anxious  and  still  lingering  flock,  and 
at  the  doors  of  the  church  laid  his  attenuated  hand  upon  the 
heads  of  some  of  the  Sunday-school  children,  for  whom  he 
cherished  a  most  lively  and  affectionate  concern. 

"On  the  23d  of  March  he  embarked  with  his  father  for 
Havana.  The  voyage,  though  not  stormy,  was  rough  and  disa- 
greeable ;  but  every  discomfort  was  borne  by  the  sufferer  with 
the  same  meek  and  placid  resignation  by  which  his  life  had 
been  distinguished  ;  not  a  murmur  escaped  his  lips  on  any  occa- 
sion of  annoyance.  On  the  ist  of  April  he  raised  a  very 
small  quantity  of  blood,  but  not  enough  to  excite  any  alarm. 
On  the  4th  of  April,  however,  he  had  a  return  of  the  same 
symptom,  and  continued  to  bleed  from  the  lungs,  though  very 
slowly,  for  about  an  hour,  when  without  any  apparent  diminu- 
tion of  strength,  and  with  his  eyes  open  and  calmly  fixed  on 
his  father,  without  a  struggle  or  even  the  slightest  perceptible 
movement  of  muscle,  he  expired  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-one 
years  and  ten  months. 

"  On  the  next  day  (Good  Friday)  the  body  was  committed  to 
the  deep,  in  the  full  belief  that  the  earth  and  the  sea  will 
simultaneously  give  up    their    dead.     The    church    burial    service 


64  Glimpses  of  Life  i)i  an  Anglican  Sc miliary. 

was  impressively  read  by  Mr.  Grosvenor,  a  gentleman  connected 
with  the  Seaman's  Friend  Society,  the  subdued  and  reverent 
demeanor  and  tearful  eyes  of  the  passengers  and  crew  evincing 
the  hold  which  the  gentleman-like  manners,  and  the  mild  and 
meek  deportment  of  the  deceased,  had  gained  on  their  hearts. 
The  burial  took  place  about  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  north  east 
of  the  Moro  Castle,  on  the  very  day  on  which  the  deceased, 
had  he  lived,  would  have  landed  in  Havana." 

Not  alone  Captain  Joseph  Spinney,  but  all  on  board  the 
vessel,  showed  the  most  generous  consideration  at  this  trying 
time. 

I  cannot  refrain  from  transcribing  here  a  touching  reminis- 
cence of  Carey  recorded  by  Rev.  A.  F.  Hewit,  in  his  memoir 
of  Baker  :  "  For  a  long  time  afterward  his  poor  father  might 
be  seen  every  day  standing  on  the  Battery  and  gazing  wistfully 
out  to  sea,  with  mournful  thoughts,  longing  after  the  son  whom 
he  had  lost." 

It  may  seem  to  some  of  my  readers  that  I  have  yielded  too 
much  to  imagination  and  affection  in  portraying  the  character 
of  Arthur  Carey,  and  overdrawn  the  picture.  Or,  it  may  be 
thought  that  I  have  rested  too  much  upon  the  testimony  of 
other  friends,  prejudiced  like  myself  in  his  favor.  For  this  rea- 
son I  now  turn  willingly  to  a  witness  who  must  be  acknowl- 
edged on  all  hands  to  be  free  from  any  such  bias.  Dr.  Hugh 
Smith,  rector  of  St.  Peter's,  may  be  set  down  as  in  many  re- 
spects Carey's  most  forward  and  unrelenting  adversary.  Carey 
was  a  Tractarian  ;  Smith  was  bitterly  opposed  to  Tractarianism, 
and  must  rather  be  classed  even  as  a  low-churchman,  if  not  an 
evangelical.  Dr.  Smith  was  Carey's  principal  accuser,  both  be- 
fore the  trustees  of  the  seminary  and  when  put  upon  examina- 
tion before  his  bishop.  He  was  the  principal  and  earliest  mo- 
tor in  opposing  Carey's  ordination,  more  forward  and  urgent  in 
opposition  than  Dr.  Anthon,  the  other  accuser.  He  believed 
Carey  to  be  alienated  from  the  doctrine  and  discipline  of  the 
Anglican  Church,  and  more  consonant  in  mind  and  heart  with 
what  he  called  Romanism.  For  these  reasons  he  considered 
him  unfit  for  orders,  and  protested  solemnly  against  the  action 
of  Bishop  Onderdonk    at  St.  Stephen's  Church,  during  the  very 


Glivipscs  oj  Lt/c  in  an  Anglican  Seniijiary.  65 

ceremony  of  ordination  and  while  that  church  was  crowded  with 
spectators.  For  the  same  reasons  he  continued  to  denounce 
Carey's  bishop  after  the  ordination  was  over  in  pamphlets,  ser- 
mons, and  contributions  to  the  newspapers.  Is  such  a  man  to 
be  looked  upon  as  biased  in  Carey's  favor?  On  the  contrary, 
must  we  not  take  him  as  a  most  disinterested  and  honest  wit- 
ness in  every  word  which  he  utters  in  Carey's  praise?  Will  it  be 
said  that  perhaps  Dr.  Smith  did  not  know  Carey  well  enough 
to  testify  to  the  moral  side  of  his  character?  He  ought  to 
know  him  and  know  him  well.  During  the  four  years  that 
Carey  roomed  at  the  seminary  he  was  a  member  of  the  doctor's 
congregation  ;  he  was  a  teacher  in  the  doctor's  Sunday-school  ; 
he  attended  service  regularly  at  the  doctor's  church,  and  re- 
ceived communion  at  his  hands.  It  was  to  Dr.  Smith,  as  pas- 
tor, that  Carey  felt  himself  obliged  to  apply  for  a  canonical 
certificate  recommending  him  for  ordination,  meeting,  of  course, 
with  a  refusal.  No  higher  testimony  to  Carey's  moral  character 
can  be  brought  than  that  of  such  a  man.  Then  let  him  come 
upon  the  stand.     This  is  what  he  says : 

"  I  had,  from  an  early  period  of  his  connection  with  St. 
Peter's,  understood  that  he  (Care})  embraced  the  doctrines  of 
the  Oxford  school ;  but  such  was  my  conviction  of  the  purity 
and  excellence  of  his  Christian  character,  and  of  his  quiet  and 
studious  habits,  and  of  his  love  for  truth,  that  I  was  not  only 
willing,  but  anxious,  to  have  the  benefit  of  his  services  in  my 
Sunday-school." — True  Issue  for  the   True  CJnircJiman. 

To  this  need  be  added  only  one  more  tribute.  It  is  that 
of  a  periodical  as  unfriendly  to  Carey's  doctrinal  tendencies  as 
Dr.  Smith  himself.  The  Quarterly  CJiristian  Spectator  of  Octo- 
ber, 1843,  reviewing  Carey's  ordination,  commented  in  these 
terms  upon  his  character  : 

"  He  appears  to  have  been  not  only  diligent  and  successful 
in  study,  but  eminently  amiable  and  blameless  in  his  deport- 
ment, the  pride  of  his    teachers  and  the  joy  of  his  friends." 

From  this  time  forward  an  "angel  face"  will  no  longer  be 
found  in  these  reminiscences.  I  am  not  aware  of  any  biography 
or  even  sketch  of  Arthur  Carey  which  is  not  sadly  fragmentary , 
or  which  pretends  to  completeness  of  any  sort. 


66  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 


About  sixteen  months  after  Carey's  death,  in  the  latter  part 
of  August,  1845,  when  James  A.  McMaster,  Isaac  Hecker,  with 
myself,  all  fresh  converts  to  the  Catholic  Church,  were  passing 
through  London  on  our  way  to  the  Redemptorist  novitiate  at 
St.  Trond,  in  Belgium,  the  first  named  separated  from  us  long 
enough  to  visit  John  Henry  Newman,  then  still  connected  with 
the  Anglican  Church,  and  dwelling  in  retirement  at  Littlemore, 
near  Oxford.  When  introduced  into  his  library  McMaster  found 
him  occupied  in  a  manner  not  altogether  strange  to  so  busy  a 
student.  His  right  foot  rested  upon  the  seat  of  a  chaii  ;  he 
stood  bending  over  a  book  which  he  held  in  his  left  hand,  the 
contents  of  which  he  devoured  simultaneously  with  a  sandwich 
administ-ered  to  his  mouth  by  the  right.  When  McMaster  in- 
formed him  that  he  had  become  a  Catholic  and  was  about  to 
become  a  religious,  Newman  expressed  no  surprise  and  made 
no  unfavorable  comment.  Only  two  months  later  he  was  him- 
self a  convert.  McMaster  spoke  to  him  of  Carey,  who  was  not 
unknown  to  him.  The  doctor  showed  much  interest  in  Carey 
and  asked  many  questions  concerning  his  career.  When,  how- 
ever, McMaster  urged  him  to  write  a  biography  of  him,  as  one 
of  his  own"  most  prominent  and  gifted  disciples,  the  doctor  de- 
clined. Carey,  he  said,  was  an  American,  and  only  some  Ameri- 
can more  closely  and  intimately  connected  with  his  life  could 
do  him  justice. 

All  those  who  could  have  filled  such  a  role  have  either  passed 
away  or  are  little  likely  to  undertake  the  task.  For  want  of  a 
better  biographer,  ard  that  the  memories  which  I  can  supply 
may  not  be  lost  at  my  death,  1  have  made  this  too  brief  ac- 
count as  complete  as  my  scant  means  allow  me.  His  family 
motto  was:  ''Dto  cari  nihilo  carcnt'' — "The  dear  to  God  are  be- 
yond want."     I  venture  to  add  these  words,  Rcquiescat  in  pace. 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Se)ninary.  67 


CHAPTER  V. 

STUDENTS'  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY. — "A  HEATHEN  CHINEE." — AN 
ORIENTAL  BISHOP. — A  BISHOP  TO  THE  ORIENTALS.— KIP'S 
HEROES — HENRY    MARTYN. — HEBER. 

THE  opening  of  my  second  year  at  the  seminary  found  me 
in  many  respects  unchanged  from  what  I  had  been  twelve 
months  before.  In  regard  to  the  diversities  of  faith  and  opinion 
which  existed  among  Episcopalians  it  would  have  been  hard  to 
classify  me.  I  could  no  longer  be  called  an  Evangelical.  The 
scales  had  fallen  from  my  eyes.  Luther  was  no  longer  a  hero. 
The  reading  of  D'Aubigne's  history  had  left  him  mirrored  to  my 
mind  as  an  ambitious,  restless,  and  dogged  man,  but  one  whose 
loud  professions  of  zeal  were  merely  the  shams  of  a  demagogue, 
while  his  private  life  showed  grovelling  instincts  inconsistent  with 
a  man  inspired  by  a  divine  influence.  And  so  it  was  In  some 
degree  with  all  the  other  reformers  I  knew  of.  Whatever  good 
there  might  be  in  them,  they  shone  no  longer  like  stars  in  my  sky, 
and  with  me  they  carried  no  authority.  Nevertheless  I  was  still 
Protestant,  and  in  my  eyes  the  Reformation  continued  to  wear  a 
certain  providential  character.  It  had  proved,  I  thought,  a  good 
broom.  The  same  hands  that  wielded  the  broom  had  also 
moved  away  much  useless  furniture. 

Some  of  the  Tractarians  in  England  loved  to  call  themselves 
"  Apostolicals,"  and  there  was  a  good  deal  about  their  move- 
ment which  seemed  to  be  apostolical.  William  George  Ward, 
one  of  the  leaders  of  this  stamp  in  England,  in  his  Ideal  of  a 
Chrisiia?t  C/nirch,  proposes  as  a  practical  test  to  show  whether  a 
church  is  apostolical  or  not,  to  load  the  existing  framework 
with  all  possible  good.  "  If  it  will  bear  it,  all  is  well.-  If  not, 
God  himself  has  solved  for  us  the  question  and  the  system 
breaks  down  of  itself." 

I  had  long  felt  a  strong  calling    to    missionary  work.     If  the 


68  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

Anglican  Church  lent  itself  zealously  and  generously  to  mission- 
ary labors,  it  afforded  at  once  a  strong  test  of  her  genuineness 
and  opened  to  me  a  field  in  which  I  could  joyfully  labor.  The 
General  Seminary  had  its  missionary  society.  I  had  joined  it 
at  the  beginning  of  my  course,  and  I  commenced  this,  my  sec- 
ond year,  with  a  new  interest  in  its  meetings.  I  was  elected 
president  of  this  society.  Its  members  took  much  pleasure  in 
reading  such  accounts  as  they  could  procure  concerning  church 
missions  in  foreign  parts,  and  we  discussed  them  at  our  meet- 
ings. 

At  one  of  these  meetings  we  were  favored  with  the  atten- 
dance of  a  church  missionary  from  China.  He  entertained  us 
with  an  account  of  that  country  and  of  the  wide  field  there 
opened  to  missionary  enterprise.  He  had  little,  however,  to  say 
of  any  actual  converts  made,  or  of  any  very  tangible  influence 
exerted  upon  the  inhabitants.  He  had  brought  home  with  him, 
at  the  expense  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  a  Chinese  who 
was,  he  told  us,  a  man  of  note  in  his  own  country,  a  scientist 
and  of  remarkable  intelligence.  This  yellow  gentleman,  he  ac- 
knowledged, was  no  Christian  and  gave  no  evidence  of  any  ten- 
dency in  that  direction.  He  made  some  disturbance  during  the 
missionary's  address  by  his  restlessness.  Our  meeting  was  in  the 
seminary  chapel.  The  organ  there  excited  the  curiosity  of  the 
Chinaman,  and,  without  any  apparent  sense  of  discourtesy,  he 
left  his  seat  among  the  auditors  to  examine  the  organ,  looking 
over  and  sounding  the  keys  with  great  care,  and  kneeling  down 
behind  the  box  to  scrutinize  the  pipes  and  the  complicated 
action.  Under  these  circumstances  the  lecture  could  not  last 
long.  We  were  all  collected  very  soon  about  him,  much  amused 
by  his  movements.  He  laughed  with  great  delight,  and  made 
various  signs  to  show  how  well  he  understood  the  character  of 
the  instrument  and  how  its  work  was  done. 

In  point  of  fact  this  Chinese  philosopher  on  exhibition  at 
our  meeting  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  missionary  labor 
in  China.  Any  Chinese  curiosity  in  a  show-box  would  have  an- 
swered the  same  purpose.  When  the  missionary  wanted  audi- 
ences he  helped  to  draw.  It  paid  him  also  to  lend  his  services 
in  this  way,  yellow  skin,  slanted  eyes,  and  pig  tail,  to  the  Church 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary .  69 

Missionary  Society.  It  was  not  a  little  disappointing  to  many 
earnest  minds  in  our  society,  that  this  sight  of  a  Chinaman  was 
about  all  that  our  memories  could  retain  of  the  lecture  on 
missionary  experience  in  China. 

The  Church  Missionary  Society,  however,  scores  a  better 
point  against  other  Protestants,  or  thinks  so,  when  a  live  bishop 
of  any  kind  whatever  appears  from  the  East.  It  was  about 
this  time  that  Mar  Yohannan,  a  Nestorian  bishop  from  the  moun- 
tains of  Ooroomiah,  was  introduced  to  the  notice  of  American 
Protestants.  He  came  over  to  this  country  under  the  auspices 
of  the  American  Board  of  Missions,  and  was  received  with 
great  acclamation  by  pious  Presbyterians  everywhere.  He  was 
no  convert  to  anything,  but  he  hobnobbed  very  comfortably  with 
his  new  friends  and  made  a  good  thing  of  it.  I  saw  him  at 
Saratoga.  He  spent  some  days  at  our  house,  on  my  father's  in- 
vitation, and  was  a  great  curiosity.  My  mother  was  quite  de- 
lighted to  receive  him  as  a  guest.  It  seemed  to  her  a  blessing 
to  have  him.  His  friendly  connection  with  foreign  missionaries 
was  in  her  mind  an  all-sufificient  guarantee.  Everything  about 
liim  seemed  right  to  her,  except  that  he  was  an  inveterate 
smoker.  She  abominated  smoking  as  something  irreligious  at 
least,  if  not  wicked.  He  was  quite  satisfied,  however,  to  pass 
the  greater  part  of  his  time  on  the  front  piazza,  where  he  could 
smoke  freely.  His  Nestorianism  did  not  seem  to  need  repairing, 
but  his  clothing  did,  and  the  girls  of  the  family  set  themselves 
to  work  to  make  him  a  new  outfit.  I  remember  well  the  great 
glee  with  which  they  surveyed  the  immense  amount  of  blue 
cloth  necessary  to  sew  up  into  trousers. 

A  theory  was  started  that  Mar  Yohannan  and  his  people 
were  descended  from  the  lost  tribes  of  Israel,  and  this  was  a 
great  boom  for  the  American  Board.  These,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered, were  the  days  of  Charlotte  Elizabeth — "  Old  Crazy  Bess," 
as  McMaster  was  pleased  to  call  her  in  his  irreverent  style. 
She  was  then  still  living.  Her  writings  were  in  wide  circulation, 
and  Protestant  piety  had  been  excited  to  the  highest  pitch  of 
interest  in  all  that  regarded  Israelites,  and  everything  that  looked 
forward  to  the  conversion  of  the  Jews.  Episcopalian  Protestants 
also,  at  least  those    of  the  high-church  school,  were  much  inter- 


'JO  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

ested  in  Mar  Yohannan  for  peculiar  reasons  of  their  own.  He 
was  a  bishop,  and,  although  schismatical  in  worship  and  hereti- 
cal in  faith,  had  an  undoubted  succession  from  the  Apostles. 
Several  of  their  bishops  sought  out  interviews  with  him  and  en- 
deavored to  draw  from  him  some  expressions  recognizing  a 
fraternity  of  this  kind.  So  far  as  I  remember  their  efforts  were 
unsuccessful.  Mar  Yohannan  knew  very  well  on  which  side  his 
bread  was  buttered,  and  either  evaded  their  questions  or  put 
them  to  confusion  by  replies  more  consonant  with  the  Evangeli- 
cal tone  of  the  Presbyterian  missionaries  with  whom  he  con- 
sorted. 

The  greater  part  of  the  students  at  the  seminary  were  not 
merely  Episcopalians  in  name,  but  strongly  attached  to  that 
feature  of  church  government  which  divides  their  organization 
into  dioceses  with  a  bishop  at  the  head  of  each  diocese,  with 
presbyters  and  deacons  under  these  as  distinct  orders  of  the 
clergy.  The  majority  of  them,  indeed,  believed  this  feature 
of  their  church  to  be  not  only  a  thing  of  divine  institution, 
but  necessary  to  constitute  a  true  Christian  ministry.  They 
believed  in  the  necessity  of  an  apostolic  succession.  To  constitute 
this  succession  it  is  necessary  that  a  bishop's  ofificial  right  to  repre- 
sent Christ  should  be  traceable  back  to  the  Apostles,  through  an 
uninterrupted  series  of  ordinations.  This  taken  alone,  without  an 
historical  union  of  belief  and  a  visible  brotherhood  in  obedience  to 
one  rule,  is,  to  be  sure,  a  very  slender  thread.  It  separates  them 
very  little  from  the  confused  crowd  of  Protestants  with  whom  in 
doctrine  they  agree  so  closely.  It  assimilates  them  very  slightly  to 
the  ancient  church  from  which  they  differ  so  widely.  On  the  other 
hand,  their  difference  from  all  Oriental  schismatics  is  as  wide  as 
ever.  There  is  no  community  of  faith  between  them,  and  yet  Epis 
copalians  are  well  known  to  be  proud  of  a  certain  supposed  unity 
with  these  ancient  Eastern  churches. 

What  I  have  said  is  enough  to  account  for  the  general 
interest  taken  by  Episcopalians  in  Dr.  Southgate,  who  became  a 
very  prominent  figure  in  the  religious  world  at  the  very  time  when 
Tractarianism  was  at  its  height.  He  was  sent  to  Constantinople 
as  an  Episcopalian  missionary  in  1840.  He  was  called  home 
and  sent  back    again  in    1844,  with  the    valuable  title  of    bishop 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seniinai-y.  yi 

attached  to  his  name.  It  was  hoped  by  this  means  to  establish 
an  alHance,  or  at  least  to  manifest  some  sort  of  unity,  between 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  and  the  Greek  churches  of  the 
Eastern  world. 

We  students  of  the  seminary  became  much  interested  in 
Dr.  Southgate,  and  particularly  those  of  us  who  belonged  to  the 
missionary  society  at  Chelsea.  It  seemed  to  present  high  hopes 
to  all  those  of  us  especially  who  looked  forward  to  a  missionary 
life  as  one  that  might  become  our  own.  Dr.  Southgate  was 
made  ready  to  appear  at  Constantinople  with  all  the  prestige 
attaching  to  the  rank  of  bishop.  We,  too,  might  soon  follow, 
and  under  the  shadow  of  his  apostolic  powers  gather  in  Greeks, 
Armenians,  Nestorians,  to — well,  it  is  hard  to  say  what!  These 
Oriental  churches  had  a  real  antiquity,  and  an  acknowledged 
episcopate,  which  we  had  not.  If  they  took  us  into  partnership 
it  would  set  us  up.  In  return  for  this  brotherly  embrace  we 
could  communicate  to  them  that  superior  spirituality  which  we 
had  derived  from  Protestantism. 

All  this  seems  to  me,  of  course,  very  foolish,  very  dreamy 
and  very  unpractical  now.  In  our  seminary,  however,  at  that 
time,  it  did  not  seem  so.  There  was  plenty  of  matter  in  this 
mission  to  Constantinople  to  excite  young  hearts  to  a  high 
enthusiasm.  I  do  not  remember  that  Carey,  McMaster,  or 
Everett,  or  any  advanced  Tractarians,  took  much  stock  in  it. 

I  may  as  well  at  once  say  here  by  way  of  anticipation  that 
Bishop  Southgate's  mission  to  Constantinople  proved  to  be  a  great 
failure.  He  was  not  recognized  by  Eastern  Christians  as  a  bishop, 
or  as  differing  essentially  from  other  Protestant  missionaries.  He 
only  succeeded  in  raising  a  war  of  recrimination  between  himself 
and  Presbyterian  or  Congregational  missionaries  who  had  preced- 
ed him  in  that  field.  And  this  war  was  fought  over  again  before 
the  American  public.  I  will  give  the  history  of  it.  It  helped  to 
hurry  forward  some  anxious  hearts  on  their  way  to  Rome. 

It  has  already  been  said  that  Bishop  Southgate  began  his 
missionary  labors  at  Constantinople  in  1840,  at  which  time  he 
was  a  priest.  From  October,  1844,  he  continued  his  services 
there  as  bishop.  In  1850  he  resigned  his  charge  and  returned 
to  America.      We  know  of    no  mission  since  to  replace  it.      No 


72  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary 


mention  is  made  of  any  in  the  Church  Almanac  and  Year  Book 
for  iSg2.  It  will  throw  light  upon  the  hopes  and  disappoint- 
ments of  many  hearts,  both  in  the  seminary  and  outside  of  it,  to 
give  some  little  detail  of  the  position  of  Dr.  Southgate  at  Con- 
stantinople, and  of  the  circumstances  that  made  his  mission 
fruitless.  Much  of  its  history  can  be  found  in  printed  pam- 
phlets of  the  time.  One  of  these  is  entitled  A  Vindication  of 
the  Rev.  Horatio  Southgate.  This  pamphlet,  issued  for  the 
information  of  members  of  the  bishop's  own  denomination  in 
the  United  States,  contains  not  only  a  vindication  of  his  con- 
duct against  charges  made  by  the  American  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions,  but  also  counter-charges  against  the  Presbyterian  mis- 
sionaries in  that  city.  In  answer  to  this  was  pubHshed  a 
"  Reply  "  reviewing  the  whole  history  of  the  quarrel. 

According  to  the  bishop's  statements  the  Congregationalist 
missionaries  at  Constantinople  had  so  far  concealed  their  real 
character  that  an  impression  generally  prevailed  among  the 
Armenians  that  they  were  clergymen  of  the  English  Church  and 
were  for  some  time  supposed  to  be  bishops.  This  impression 
was  strengthened  by  their  assuming  the  Episcopalian  clerical 
dress,  using  the  Common  Prayer  Book,  making  the  sign  of  the 
cross  in  Baptism,  and  other  like  practices  unknown  to  Congre- 
gationalists  at  home. 

These  charges  are  not  denied  by  the  missionaries  in  their 
"  Reply "  as  facts,  but  they  repudiate  the  motive  given,  that 
they  wished  to  pass  themselves  off  for  Anglican  ministers. 
They  allege  as  a  counter-charge  that  a  great  change  had  taken 
place  in  Dr.  Southgate's  demeanor  towards  them  upon  his 
returning  to  Constantinople  as  a  bishop.  Upon  his  first  coming 
to  Constantinople  he  was  very  cordial  and  friendly.  He  sat 
down  at  the  communion  table  with  them,  received  the  sacra- 
ment from  their  hands,  and  took  part  with  them  also  in  the 
administration  of  it.  He  attended  public  service  regularly  with 
them  on  the  Sabbath,  sometimes  preaching  for  them  and  some- 
times listening  to  their  preaching  ;  and  often  had  he  bent  the 
head  together  with  them  in  prayer,  he  taking  his  turn  without 
book  or  stated  form. 

After  his  visit  to  America,  from   which   he   returned  to  Con- 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  73 

stantinople  as  bishop,  he  was  entirely  metamorphosed,  and 
determined  to  act  on  the  most  exclusive  high-church  principles. 
As  a  man  he  professed  to  be  ready  to  live  with  them  on  terms 
of  civility;  but  as  a  Christian,  and  especially  as  a  Christian 
minister,  he  seemed  to  wish  to  have  no  visible  relations  with 
them.  He  would  not  consent  even  to  have  a  prayer-meeting  in 
common  which  they  formally  proposed,  lest  it  should  be  sup- 
posed by  others  that  he  recognized  them  as  true  ministers  of 
Christ,  equally  with  himself. 

The  hopes  founded  by  Episcopalians  upon  Dr.  Southgate's 
appearance  in  Constantinople,  and  the  apparent  motives  for  his 
changed  demeanor  towards  the  missionaries  of  the  American 
Board,  may  be  seen  in  great  part  in  the  fact  that  he  brought  a 
letter,  signed  by  seven  bishops  of  his  church,  addressed  to  the 
Greek  and  Syrian  patriarchs,  in  which  the  proposition  is  for- 
mally made  for  a  certain  kind  of  friendly  alliance  and  co- 
operation. 

Another  point  of  missionary  policy  is  to  be  noted  here.  On 
the  one  hand,  it  seemed  all-important  to  Bishop  Southgate's 
mission  to  Constantinople  to  make  him  appear  as  much  as  pos- 
sible like  an  Oriental  bishop.  On  the  other  hand,  it  would  never 
do  to  have  him  mistaken  by  the  Orientals  for  a  Roman  Catholic 
bishop.  It  was  for  this  reason  that  the  Rev.  A.  F.  Hewit,  now 
a  Catholic  priest  and  Superior  of  the  Paulists,  was  not  allowed 
to  go  with  him,  as  he  desired.  Hewit  was  known  at  that  time 
to  have  strong  inclinations  in  favor  of  Roman  Catholic  doc- 
trine. He  was  already  very  much  of  a  Tractarian  and  of  a 
character  too  frank  to  hide  it.  Appleton's  Cyclopcedia  of  Ameri- 
can Biography  puts  this  in  still  stronger  language.  It  says  of 
Hewit  :  "  He  was  selected  to  accompany  Bishop  Southgate  as  a 
missionary  to  Constantinople,  but  the  missionary  committee 
refused  to  ratify  the  appointment  on  the  ground  that  Mr. 
Hewit  held  beliefs  that  were  distinctively  Roman  Catholic." 

The  committee  were  wise  in  their  generation.  Hewit  was 
too  earnest  a  Christian  to  play  the  part  of  a  via  media  man 
very  satisfactorily,  or  impose  himself  upon  Orientals  for  any- 
thing but  what  he  really  was.  In  1846  he  was  received  into 
the  Roman    Catholic  Church,  and  is  well   known  in  that  Church 


74  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

for  a  long,  strongly  marked,  and  most  successful  missionary 
career. 

Failures  of  missionary  enterprises  like  this  of  Southgate  do 
not  suddenly  and  completely  extinguish  the  hopes  that  lie  in 
faithful  and  ardent  hearts  or  destroy  their  confidence  in  the 
organizations  to  which  they  belong.  What  matters  Constantino- 
ple or  all  the  ancient  Eastern  churches  on  a  map  of  the  world  ? 
So  Anglicans  sometimes  say  both  in  England  and  in  America. 
Have  we  not  a  great  missionary  history  to  show  in  Hindustan 
and  in  the  rest  of  our  Indian  empire  ?  In  order  to  coun- 
teract any  dangerous  inferences  that  might  be  drawn  from  his 
praise  of  the  "  Early  Jesuit  Missions  in  North  America,'  Bishop 
Kip  says  of  them  :  "  There  is  not  a  recorded  instance  of  their 
permanency,  or  their  spreading  each  generation  wider  and 
deeper,  like  our  own  missions  in  India."  This  bold  statement  is 
in  singular  contradiction  to  actual  facts. 

In  1869  Sir  William  Hunter  was  entrusted  by  the  Indian 
government  with  the  statistical  survey  of  India.  According  to 
his  report  the  census  of  India  for  1891  opens  to  us  the  follow- 
ing statistics:  The  total  number  of  Christians  in  all  India,  includ- 
ing Burmah,  is  2,601,355.  Of  this  number  about  700,000  are 
Protestants  of  one  or  other  denomination,  rather  more  than 
300,000  are  Jacobites,  who  hold  the  doctrines  of  the  Eastern 
Church,  and  1,594,901  are  Catholics.  Of  these  latter  221,000  are 
Syrian  Catholics,  in  communion  with  Rome  but  having  their 
own  rite  and  clergy,  and  the  rest  are  Catholics  of  the  Roman 
rite. 

How  bold,  bald,  and  untruthful  is  Dr.  Kip's  boast  in  face 
of  these  documentary  facts!  Even  India  herself,  that  country 
so  thoroughly  and  terribly  subjugated  to  British  rule,  that 
golden  mine  of  British  wealth,  that  fairy  field  of  Anglican  labor, 
has  harvested  far  less  to  the  English  Church  than  to  the  influ- 
ences of  the  Catholic  religion,  all  poor  and  unsupported  as  it 
is.  Sir  William  Hunter  says  that  "the  Roman  Catholics  work 
in  India  with  slender  pecuniary  resources."  He  also  allows 
that  "  the  priests  of  the  Propaganda  deny  themselves  the  com- 
forts considered  necessaries  for  Europeans  in  India.  They  live 
the  frugal  and  abstemious  life  of  the    native,  and  their  influence 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  75 

reaches    deep    into    the    life    of    the    communities    among  whom 
they  dwell." 

These  facts  were  not  so  well  known  to  the  seminarians  of 
my  day  at  Chelsea  ;  not  even  to  those  of  the  missionary  society, 
who  were  best  informed  in  these  matters.  There  prevailed 
amongst  us,  however,  much  suspicion  of  the  actual  truth,  and 
much  gloomy  foreboding  in  regard   to  the  future. 

In  comparing  Anglican  missionaries  with  the  early  Jesuit 
missionaries  of  North  America  Dr.  Kip  says: 

"  Our  own  church  has  equally  her  Acta  Sanctornm. 
The  annals  of  no  church  give  a  loftier  picture  of  self-sacrifice 
than  that  furnished  by  Henry  Martyn,  when  he  abandoned  the 
honors  of  academic  life  and  exchanged  his  happy  home  at 
Cambridge  for  the  solitary  bungalow  at  Dinapore — the  daily 
disputes  with  his  Moonshee  and  Pundit — or  the  bitter  opposi- 
tion of  the  Mohammedans  at  Shiraz.  And  nowhere  do  we 
read  of  a  nobler  martyrdom  than  his,  when  he  lay  expiring  at 
Tocat,  without  a  friend  to  close  his  eyes  or  a  sympathizing 
voice  to  address  him.  So,  too,  it  was  when  Heber  left  the 
peaceful  retreat  of  Hodnet,  to  suffer  and  die  under  the  burning 
heats  of  India." 

Far  be  it  from  me  to  decry  the  merits  of  Martyn  or  of 
Heber,  or  of  other  pious  ministers  in  the  Anglican  fold  or  any 
other.  It  is,  nevertheless,  neither  true  nor  edifying  to  put  these 
estimable  men  on  the  same  platform  with  Isaac  Jogues,  Rene 
Goupil,  Brebceuf,  Lalemant,  Rasle,  Daniel,  Junipero,  Abella, 
and  a  host  of  others  who  literally  left  all  their  natural  friends 
to  dwell  in  perpetual  danger  amongst  savages,  ending  their  lives 
in  torturing,  starvation,  or  violent  death.  A  room  called  the 
chamber  of  martyrs  in  the  college  of  the  Missions  Etrangeres  at 
Paris  is  full  of  mangled  remains,  of  instruments  of  torture,  and 
other  tragic  mementoes  of  missionaries  of  the  same  heroic 
mould,  who  in  our  day  have  ended  their  lives  in  China. 

Neither  Martyn  nor  Heber  can  be  set  down  as  martyrs. 
Whether  either  can  fairly  be  considered  as  a  confessor  for  his 
faith  is  very  questionable.  That  they  were  both  very  estimable 
and  pious  Christian  men  is  to  be  admitted  freely. 

Henry  Martyn  was  a   real    missionary,  and    constantly  during 


y6  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  ::^enii}iary. 

his  whole  career  in  India  and  before  that,  while  dwelling  in 
England,  and  waiting  as  a  candidate  to  be  ordered  to  his  field 
of  labor,  showed  signs  of  a  true  zeal  for  the  conversion  of  the 
heathen.  The  best  evidence  of  this  zeal  is  the  fact  that,  re- 
fusing to  take  up  his  abode  in  Calcutta  or  any  other  large 
town,  already  crowded  with  Europeans  and  with  clergymen 
ministering  to  Europeans,  he  clung  firmly  to  his  station  at 
Dinapore,  where  he  was  in  the  very  midst  of  a  heathen  world. 
There,  also,  although  made  safe  against  danger  by  the  pres- 
ence of  British  soldiers,  he  was  deprived  of  nearly  all  such 
social  life  as  could  naturally  be  agreeable  to  him.  There  was 
much  of  privation  and  voluntary  sacrifice  in  this.  There  was 
much  also  of  missionary  work,  the  most  congenial  and  agreeable 
of  which  was  his  literary  labor  in  translating  the  Bible  and 
Common  Prayer  Book  into  Hindustanee  and  Persian.  How 
nearly  such  a  life  approaches  to  the  heroic  must  depend  upon 
that  degree  of  courage  and  endurance  which  one  attaches  to 
the  idea  of  heroism.  What  seems  to  detract  most  from  the 
heroism  of  such  a  career  as  Martyn's  is  a  weakness  of  love- 
making,  in  which  we  find  him  engaged  while  in  England,  kept 
up  until  the  very  time  of  his  departure, — and  the  fact  that  some 
years  after,  while  at  Dinapore,  he  writes  home  to  this   old  love, 

whose  name  we  only  know  as    L ,  off'ering   her   his    hand    in 

marriage.  This  offer  was  declined.  The  marriage  of  a  man 
involves  many  duties,  and  these  not  a  little  engrossing.  Duties 
not  only  to  the  wife  who  has  received  his  vows,  but  to  a  fam- 
ily of  children,  which  will  in  the  course  of  nature  form  about 
him.  To  a  missionary  devoted  to  his  work  as  a  divine  and 
special  vocation,  this  married  life,  however  attractive,  is  incon- 
gruous. It  must  necessarily  interfere  with  the  engrossing  de- 
mands of  apostolic  labor.  It  is  difficult  to  harmonize  it  with  a 
life  of  missionary  heroism. 

Martyn  would  probably  have  done  much  better  where  simple 
heathenism  only  existed,  unsupported  by  any  learned  philos- 
ophy. He  himself  was  little  provided  with  liberal  learning. 
Quite  deficient  in  anything  like  systematic  theology  or  philoso- 
phy, he  was  unable  to  cope  with  the  trained  minds  he  encoun- 
tered   even    at    Dinapore.     His   task   was   still   more    difificult   at 


Glivipscs  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  77 

Shiraz.  There  he  came  in  contact  with  Mohammedans,  Brah- 
mins, Buddhists,  Jews,  and  others,  many  of  them  well  trained  to 
philosophic  distinctions.  It  seems  strange  that  once  when 
closely  questioned  by  Mohammedan  teachers  in  regard  to  the 
person  of  Christ,  he  should  have  endeavored  to  explain  the 
Christian  doctrine  of  the  Incarnation  by  saying:  that  zve  did  not 
consider  his  human  nature  eternal  (see  Sargent's  Memoir  of 
Martyn,  chap  ix.  p.  321).  This  was  very  satisfactory  to  the 
Mohammedans,  as  well  it  might  be. 

Mrs.  Heber,  widow  of  the  bishop,  in  her  biography  of  her 
husband,  gives  us  his  estimate  of  Henry  Martyn  as  follows: 

"  Many  of  Martyn's  sufferings  and  privations  he  saw  were 
caused  by  a  peculiar  temperament,  and  by  a  zeal  which,  disre- 
garding all  personal  danger  and  sacrifice,  led  that  devoted 
servant  of  God  to  follow,  at  whatever  risk,  those  objects  which 
would  have  been  more  effectually  attained,  and  at  a  less  costly 
sacrifice,  had  they  been  pursued  with  caution  and  patience." 

I  give  this  estimate  for  what  it  is  worth.  I  have  not  been 
criticising  the  wisdom  or  patience  of  Martyn,  but  his  title  to 
rank  as  a  hero  among  missionaries.  Whatever  his  title  in  this 
roll  of  honor  may  be,  he  cannot  be  classed  as  a  typical  Angli- 
can, or  as  in  any  way  an  example  of  piety  or  virtue  deriving 
its  source  from  the  Church  of  England.  Although  holding 
orders  in  that  church,  he  was  in  all  his  religious  views  and  in 
the  spirit  and  tone  of  his  piety  an  Evangelical  Puritan.  This 
shows  itself  in  a  certain  disagreeable  technical  dialect  found 
everywhere  throughout  his  diaries,  journals,  and  letters,  which 
belongs  to  Puritan  piety,  and  is  in  no  way  characteristic  of 
Anglicanism.  This  is  not  at  all  astonishing,  since  the  books 
which  he  most  delighted  in  for  pious  reading  were,  after  the 
Bible,  the  works  of  Baxter  and  John  Newton,  while  his  chief 
model  as  a  missionary  was  David  Brainerd. 

Bishop  Heber  cannot  rightly  be  classed  with  Henry  Martyn. 
It  is  difificult  to  look  at  the  bishop  as  being  a  missionary  at  all. 
However  gifted  with  other  qualities  which  entitle  him  to 
respect,  his  vocation  to  heathen  lands  came  when  the  British 
cabinet  gave  him  the  appointment  of  Lord  Bishop  of  Calcutta. 
His    appointment    found    him    officiating   tranquilly  as    rector   at 


jS  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

Hodnet.  He  sailed  for  India  with  his  wife  and  child  in  1823, 
and  remained  in  occupation  of  his  diocese  until  his  death  in 
1826.  This  death  was  caused  by  imprudently  taking  a  cold 
bath  after  a  day  of  labor  and  exhaustion.  He  visited  his  vast 
diocese  faithfully,  as  every  faithful  bishop  must,  confirming  and 
otherwise  ministering  not  only  to  Europeans,  but  to  native  con- 
verts, when  such  fell  in  his  way.  There  was  no  special  priva- 
tion or  self-sacrifice  in  this.  The  whole  crowd  of  Englishmen 
who  flock  to  Hmdustan  meet  the  same  inconveniences  and 
dangers.  To  be  Lord  Bishop  of  Calcutta  was  to  rank  high  in 
India,  second  in  importance  only  to  the  governor-general  him- 
self. When  setting  out  to  visit  his  vast  new  diocese,  in  the 
second  year  of  his  residence  in  India,  as  he  himself  tells  us,  he 
started  on  his  journey  up  the  Ganges  with  three  vessels,  two 
besides  the  one  in  which  he  and  his  domestic  chaplain,  Rev. 
Martin  Stowe,  travelled. 

"Ore  of  these,"  he  writes,  "is  a  cooking  boat,  the  other  for 
our  luggage  and  servants  ;  .  .  .  twelve  servants  are  thought 
a  very  moderate  travelling  establishment  for  myself  and  a  single 
friend  ;  and  that  the  number  of  boatmen  for  the  three  vessels 
amounts,  I  believe,  to  thirty-two." 

On  leaving  his  boats  to  travel  by  land  at  Allahabad  his 
train  or  caravan  consisted  of  "twenty-four  camels,  eight  carts 
drawn  by  bullocks,  twenty- four  horse  servants,  including  those 
of  the  archdeacon  and  Mr.  Lushington,  ten  ponies,  forty  bear- 
ers and  coolies  of  different  descriptions,  twelve  tent-pitchers, 
and  a  guard  of  twenty  sepoys  under  a  native  officer."  All, 
servants  and  sepoys,  were  heavily  armed.  At  every  settle- 
ment where  he  arrived  he  was  met  by  British  officials,  and 
was  received  with  distinction  by  rajahs,  princes,  and  native 
kings. 

This  is  all  very  right.  We  only  mention  it  to  show  that 
Bishop  Heber's  vocation  in  India  was  not  one  of  a  nature  to 
rank  him  among  the  heroic  missionaries  of  history. 

Bishop  Heber  undoubtedly  ranks  high  among  Christian 
poets.  He  could  not  have  united  the  spirit  of  a  Christian  with 
the  lofty  conceptions  of  a  poet  without  being  able  to  appreciate 
the    highest    type    of    a    Christian    missionary.     One    is    not  sur. 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminai-y.  70 

prised,    therefore,    to    find    amongst    his    poems    this    beautiful 
tribute.     I  give  only  one  stanza  of  one  of  his  best  hymns: 

"The  Son  of  God  goes  forth  to  war, 

A  kingly  crown  to  gain  ; 
His  blood-red  banner  streams  afar  ! 

Who  follows  in  his  train  ? 
Who  best  can  drink  his  cup   of  woe, 

Triumphant  over  pain, 
Who  patient  bears  his  cross  below. 

He  follows  in  his  train." 

That  Dr.  Kip  should  have  instanced  Bishop  Heber  as  a 
specimen  of  this  class  of  heroes  must  be  attributed  to  the  fact 
that  he  is  the  author  of  that  celebrated  hymn,  the  opening 
words  of  which  are   familiar  throughout  the  world — 

"  From  Greenland's  icy  mountains. 
From  India's  coral  strand, — " 

I  do  not  give  any  more  because  all  the  beautiful  lines  that 
follow  are  'known  by  heart  to  so  many  thousands.  A  poet's 
special  vocation,  however,  and  his  inmost  character,  are  not 
necessarily  indicated  by  a  single  hymn  however  widely  spread. 
Bishop  Heber  is  also  author  of  the  following  beautiful  lines 
addressed  to  his  wife,  who  remained  at  Calcutta  while  he  was 
visiting  his  diocese : 

"  If  thou  wert  by  my  side,  my  love. 
How  fast  would  evening  fail 
In  green  Benagla's  palmy  grove 
Listening  the  nightingale  I 

"  If  thou,  my  love,  wert  by  my  side. 
My  babies  at  my  knee. 
How  gaily  would  our  pinnace  glide 
O'er  Gunga's  miimic  sea." 

There  are    seven  more    stanzas   in    the  same   strain,  all  beaU" 


8o  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

tiful    poetry  and    all    coming    undoubtedly  from    his    innermost 
heart. 

The  reader  may  perhaps  wonder  that  in  these  reminiscences 
of  a  seminary  life  I  should  linger  so  long  upon  details  concern- 
ing missionaries  not  connected  with  our  institute  at  Chelsea.  I 
have  done  it  for  a  special  purpose.  In  the  first  place,  I  have 
wished  to  show  that  Episcopalians  are  not  behind  other  Protest- 
ant Christians  in  their  appreciation  of  missionary  work.  In 
the  second  place,  this  work  in  their  church  puts  on  some  special 
features  of  its  own.  These  features  are  suitable  to  its  own 
peculiar  pretensions.  It  claim.s  an  ancient  and  apostolic  charac- 
ter. It  claims  also  a  certain  sort  of  Catholicity,  something 
which  binds  it  to  all  ancient  churches  throughout  the  world. 
These  two  claims  are  founded  upon  their  supposed  apostolic 
succession.  All  this,  as  I  hope,  will  serve  to  show  how  amongst 
candidates  for  orders  inclined  to  Tractarianism,  but  earnestly 
anxious  to  save  their  confidence  in  their  own  church,  there 
grew  up  a  yearning  after  a  life  of  missionary  monasticism. 
This  last  point  will  find  its  development  hereafter.  This  yearn- 
ing led  to  hope.  This  hope  led  to  a  break-up.  Patience,  good 
reader.     Land  ahead  ! 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  A)igliean  Seminary.  %\ 


CHAPTER  VI. 

FURTHER  MISSIONARY  ASPIRATIONS. — "CRAZY  RICHMOND." — 
TYNG"S  LECTURE.— ward's  "ideal  OF  A  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH." 
— MEDITATION. — PRIVATE   RETREATS. — PARISH    MISSIONS. 

THE  reader  of  this  series  of  reminiscences  will  already  have 
seen  that  the  missionary  question  opened  a  large  field  of 
hope,  doubt,  and  anxiety  to  myself  and  to  other  Anglican 
students  within  the  seminary  and  outside.  The  attraction 
to  such  work  was  especially  strong  in  minds  progressing 
towards  Catholic  faith.  During  my  second  year's  course  at  the 
sem.inary  I  made  acquaintance  with  a  very  peculiar  sort  of  per- 
son, an  Episcopalian  minister  of  the  diocese  of  Rhode  Island, 
whom  I  frequently  met  at  a  house  near  the  seminary  where  I 
boarded.  It  was  the  Rev.  James  C.  Richmond.  He  was  dis- 
tinguished by  the  sobriquet  of  "  Crazy  Richmond  "  frcm  his 
brother,  who  was,  if  I  remember  right,  an  officiating  clergyman 
at  Manhattanville.  This  James  Richmond  had  a  sort  of  roving 
commission  in  Rhode  Island,  and  loved  to  carry  the  title  of 
missionary.  On  learning  that  I  was  president  of  the  missionary 
society  at  the  seminary  and  much  interested  in  missionary  en- 
terprises of  every  kind,  he  urged  me  to  join  with  him  in  doing 
something  with  the  neglected  poor  in  New  York  City.  On 
Sundays,  when  going  to  a  Sunday-school  attached  to  Nativity 
Church,  near  the  East  River,  I  frequently  passed  through 
Tompkins  Square,  where  a  large  number  of  poor  people  loved 
to  gather  on  all  Sundays  and  holidays  of  leisure  to  find  fresh 
air  and  amusement.  Richmond  had  heard  me  speak  of  this. 
To  his  quick  intelligence  and  eager  activity  it  suggested  an 
opportunity  to  labor  among  the  poor.  He  would  conduct  the 
services  of  the  church  and  preach  in  the  open  square,  while  my 
part  would  be  to  lead  in  the  singing.  I  would  very  willingly 
have   engaged    in    an    enterprise  of   this  kind  if  I  had  felt    more 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 


confidence  in  Mr.  Richmond's  prudence,  and  had  not  feared  that 
our  movements  might  come  to  clash  with  the  authority  of 
Bishop  Onderdonk.  Upon  this  he  offered  to  apply  to  the 
bishop  for  permission,  although  he  did  not  seem  to  think  it 
necessary. 

This  application  and  its  result  is  incidentally  recorded  in  a 
pamphlet  published  in  1845,  during  a  melee  of  pamphleteers  who 
rushed  into  print  after  the  memorable  trial  of  Bishop  Onder- 
donk. This  pamphlet  is  entitled  Richmond's  Reply  to  '^Richmond 
in  Ruins.''  In  this  publication  Mr.  Richmond  had  occasion  to 
refer  to  two  visits  made  by  him  to  Bishop  Onderdonk,  and 
says  : 

"  He  [the  bishop]  has  also  mingled  my  call  upon  him  July  4 
with  another  call  in  August  or  September,  which  I  made  after 
a  conference  with  Clarence  Walworth  in  reference  to  my  duty 
of  preaching  in  the  German  language  to  the  churchless  and 
almost  Godless  Germans  that  assemble  around  Tompkins 
Square.  On  the  last  visit  I  said  not  a  word  that  could  be  tor- 
tured into  an  implication  of  a  shade  of  a  wish  to  'return  to 
his  diocese.'  On  the  contrary,  after  saying  that  I  was  desirous 
of  preaching  to  the  Germans,  and  felt  that  I  was  bound  to  do 
so  by  my  ordination  vow,  'to  seek  for  Christ's  sheep  that  are 
scattered  in  this  naughty  world,'  and  that  it  was  not  through 
duty,  as  I  previously  told  C.  W.,  "but  for  courtesy  that  I  waited 
on  him,  having  already  not  only  a  privilege  but  an  obligation 
thus  to  officiate,  with  the  consent  of  the  nearest  rector  or  rec- 
tors ;  he  asked,  on  my  reference  to  the  Catholic  Oak,  what 
was  there  accomplished.  '  My  friend,  if  you  are  doing  so  much 
good  in  Rhode  Island,  why  not  remain  there?'  I  replied:  'I 
intend  to  do  so;  but  having  one  spare  Sunday,  I  thought  it 
would  be  best  to  help  you  and  begin  here ;  then  the  people 
who  wish  to  talk  can  spend  as  much  of  the  winter  as  they 
like  in  discussing  the  merits  of  the  movement,  and  the  ques 
tion  of  my  sanity,  pro  and  con,  and  by  next  summer  they  will 
be  tired  of  the  talk,  and  when  I  come  again  it  will  be  an  old 
story,  and  the  ice  will  have  been  effectually  broken,  and  the 
way  prepared  for  others.'  He  wittily  replied,  'I  am  afraid,  my 
friend,  it  would  freeze  over  again  this   winter.'     I  waited  a  mo- 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  83 

ment,  weighing  and  appreciating  the  bo7i  mot,  and  then  replied 
nearly  thus,  in  my  stupid  way :  '  Bishop,  the  ice  is  of  long 
standing  ;  the  neglect  of  the  poor  is  old  and  crusty,  and  do 
you  not  think  by  breaking  it  up  once  now,  the  new  ice  would 
break  more  easily  next  summer  ?  '  " 

My  recollections  accord  very  well  with  those  of  Mr.  Rich- 
mond above  given,  except  in  two  or  three  particulars.  The 
Germans  in  the  vicinity  of  Tompkins  Square  were  not  at  this 
time  destitute  of  church  privileges.  There  was  a  Catholic 
Church  near  by  the  square,  on  Third  Street,  with  preaching  in 
German.  Those  who  frequented  the  square  were  by  no  means 
all  Germans.  To  many  English  was  their  native  tongue,  and  I 
think  that  nearly  all  the  crowd  could  speak  it,  and  were  em- 
braced in  our  intentions.  I  think,  also,  it  was  not  intended  to 
confine  ourselves  to  one  Sunday.  This,  of  course,  could  do 
but  little  good.  The  bishop  refusing  permission,  of  course  our 
project  failed. 

It  is  not  really  necessary  to  the  purpose  of  these  reminis- 
cences to  say  anything  more  here  of  Mr.  Richmond.  Neverthe- 
less, having  been  once  introduced,  it  may  not  be  too  much  of 
a  digression  to  add  one  passage  more  from  this  same  pamphlet. 
It  develops  still  more  the  peculiar  character  of  the  man.  It 
shows  somewhat  his  idea  of  himself  and  his  consciousness  of 
the  light  in  which  he  stood  in  the  eyes  of  many  others.  It 
shows  also  the  light  by  which  he  surveyed  his  critics  and  esti- 
mated the  value  of  their  opinions: 

"  My  'erratic  peculiarities'  I  gratefully  admit,  and  thank  my 
stars  that  I  am  not  so  humdrnm  as  most  other  people,  who 
walk  with  pious  care  in  their  forefathers'  steps,  just  as  some 
farmers  always  plant  their  potatoes  in  the  old  way  because  it 
was  good  enough  for  their  grandfathers." 

I  have  never  since  this  occasion,  so  far  as  I  remember,  been 
called  upon  to  take  part  in  any  religious  services  conducted  in 
the  open  air,  except  at  the  laying  of  some  corner-stone  or 
monument;  or  when  in  some  parish,  at  the  beginning  of  a 
mission,  it  was  thought  necessary  to  speak  to  a  crowd  in  the 
street  and  invite  them  to  services  in  the  church  ;  or  when  at 
its    close    a    memorial    cross    was    erected  in    the    open     air ;  or 


84  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

when  soldiers  on  their  way  to  war  were  gathered  in  camp  to 
hear  Mass,  make  their  Communion,  and  listen  to  preaching.  I 
have  dwelt,  perhaps,  a  little  too  much  on  this  Tompkins 
Square  project,  and  on  the  figure  of  this  peculiar  man.  I  have, 
however,  an  excuse  for  it.  It  will  be  necessary  for  him  to 
appear  again  in  the  course  of  these  reminiscences  in  matters  of 
deep  import  to  the  Chelsea  Seminary,  to  the  New  York  diocese, 
and  to  Anglicanism  generally. 

The  agitation  which  pervaded  the  air  at  the  time  of  my 
seminary  course,  and  which  was  at  its  highest  height  at  that 
time,  was  fed  from  many  sources,  and  reached  to  every 
Anglican  circle.  It  was  fed  by  every  new  tract  which  issued 
from  Oxford ;  by  the  British  Critic,  which  was  the  principal 
organ  of  the  Tractarian  movement  ;  by  the  Lives  of  the  Early 
English  Saints,  and  by  other  volumes  of  books  and  published 
sermons  for  and  against  the  movement ;  by  every  attempt  to 
engraft  some  Catholic  practice  into  Anglican  worship  ;  and  by 
every  attempt  on  the  part  of  authority,  either  civil  or  ecclesias- 
tical, to  stifle  the  movement.  All  these  things  reached  the 
seminary  and  became  subjects  of  eager  discussion.  It  was  a 
contest  between  old  sleep  and  new  life.  It  could  not  be  kept 
out  of  any  society  instituted  at  the  seminary.  I  recall  to  mind 
an  instance  where  oi'r  society  for  the  encouragement  of  foreign 
missions  divided  itself  into  high  and  low  church  partisans,  the 
question  being  whether  a  certain  sermon  or  lecture  delivered  in 
the  Church  of  the  Ascension,  before  the  society,  should  be 
published  by  it  or  not.  The  lecturer  had  been  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Tyng,  a  prominent  clergyman  of  that  day.  A  motion  had  been 
made  and  carried  at  one  of  the  regular  meetings  of  the  society, 
that  the  reverend  doctor  should  be  asked  to  furnish  the  manu- 
script of  his  lecture  for  publication.  Some  of  the  members  who 
had  been  absent  were  dissatisfied  with  this,  and  a  new  meeting 
was  called  to  reconsider  the  matter.  A  few  words  will  suffice 
to  explain  the  cause  of  dissatisfaction,  and  of  the  contest  which 
ensued. 

Dr.  Tyng  was  a  very  prominent  and  talented  low-churchman. 
This  alone  would  not  have  been  enough  to  constitute  a  diffi- 
culty   in     publishing   his    lecture.     It    happened,    however,    that 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 


there  was  a  vacancy  at  this  time  in  the  bishopric  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  Dr.  Tyng  was  known  to  be  a  candidate  for  the 
ofifice.  His  lecture  had  been  quite  free  from  anything  that 
savored  distinctly  of  evangelical  low-church manship.  Consider- 
ing the  peculiar  atmosphere  which  prevailed  at  the  seminary 
this  was  not  to  be  wondered  at,  but  a  thing  which  excited 
much  remark  was  that  the 
reverend  doctor  had  assum- 
ed a  certain  high-church 
tone  in  some  parts  of  his 
lecture.  This  was  looked 
upon  by  many  as  an  insin- 
cere bid  for  support  in  his 
pretensions  to  the  mitre, 
and  the  majority  of  our  stu- 
dents, who  were  either  Trac- 
tarians  or  at  least  high- 
churchmen,  were  not  will- 
ing that  the  seminary  should 
seem  to  lend  any  endorse- 
ment to    the  man. 

At  the  second  and  special 
meeting  of  the  missionary 
society,  called  as  above  stat- 
ed, the  attendance  was  un- 
usually large.  A  motion 
was  offered,  if  I  remember 
right  by  Dr.  Everett,  to  re- 
scind the  action  of  the  re- 
gular meeting.  An  eager 
contest  ensued.  The  low- 
churchmen  were  in  the  mi- 
nority, but,  led  by  Harwood,  they  showed  a  great  skill  in  endeavor- 
ing to  protract  the  debate,  which  was  very  animated,  and  to  pre- 
vent any  decisive  vote  being  taken  before  adjournment  The  high- 
churchmen  were  equally  determined,  equally  skilful,  and  equally 
watchful.  I  have  reason  to  remember  this  contest  very  well. 
I  was  president  of   the   society  at  the  time,  and  it  was   my  first 


Rev.  William  Evkrett. 


86  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

experience  in  ruling  troublesome  points  of  order  in  a  sharp 
contest.  It  seemed  to  me  as  if  all  the  discordant  elements  that 
are  combined  in  Anglicanism  had  broken  their  compromise  and 
had  gathered  into  that  one  room  where  our  meeting  was  held, 
while  it  had  become  my  duty  to  bring  the  confusion  back  to 
order.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Everett,  however,  now  rector  of  the  Church 
of  the  Nativity  on  Second  Avenue,  was  the  spirit  which  really 
presided  at  the  meeting.  He  managed  the  forces  of  the  majority, 
pressed  his  motion  to  a  decisive  vote,  and  so  the  matter  ended. 
The  lecture  was  not  printed. 

A  few  of  the  members  of  this  society  not  only  felt  strongly 
interested  in  foreign  missions,  but  actually  locked  forward  to  a 
missionary  life  for  themselves.  This  interest,  however,  had  not 
been  originated  by  anything  going  on  in  the  Anglican  Church, 
nor  did  it  find  there  any  serious  encouragement.  I  do  not 
know  of  any  seminarians  of  my  time  that  ever  entered  into  the 
missionary  field.  All  the  life  that  existed  in  Episcopalianism 
was  concentrated  in  a  struggle  to  keep  itself  alive.  All  really 
earnest  hearts  anxious  to  be  engaged  in  gathering  abandoned 
or  neglected  souls  into  Christ's  fold  were  driven  about  wearily 
from  hope  to  hope,  not  willing  to  sink  back  into  despair,  and 
yet  not  knowing  where  to  settle.  Surely,  they  argued,  that 
great  church  to  which  we  belong  must  somewhere  have  a  heart 
corresponding  to  the  pulsations  which  we  feel. 

It  was  such  a  time  as  this  and  such  a  juncture  of  circum- 
stances that  saw  the  appearance  of  Ward's  Ideal  of  a  Christian 
ChiircJi. 

The  book  itself  did  not  appear  until  the  close  of  my  second 
year  at  the  seminary,  namely,  in  June,  1844,  but  much  of  the 
substance  of  the  volume  had  been  published  during  that  year 
in  the  British  Critic,  of  which  both  Ward  and  Dr.  Newman 
had  been  editors. 

The  numbers  of  the  British  Critic  had  always  been  eagerly 
welcomed  by  Tractarian  students  at  the  seminary,  until  the 
violent  opposition  excited  by  it  in  England  brought  it  to  a  sud- 
den stop. 

We  did  not  all  of  us  find  time  or  means  amidst  our  studies 
to    read    these    numbers    of    the    British    Critic,    but    McMaster, 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary 


87 


Everett,  and  a  few  others  of  the  higher  classes  did.  I  have  al- 
ready given  in  my  Reminiscences  of  Bishop  Wadhams  a  letter 
of  Arthur  Carey's,  written  from  his  lodgings  in  Charlton  Street, 
a  few  lines  of  which  I  will  repeat  here.  Carey  says  to  his  friend 
in  the  Adirondacks: 

"  McMaster  is  now  sitting  by  my  side ;  he  has  just  come 
down  from  the  seminary,  and  is  now  reading  to  me  out  of  the 
October  number  of  the  British    Critic."' 

In  my  mind's  eye  I 
seem  to  see  him  now, 
with  those  large  young 
eyes  beaming  with  intel- 
ligent interest  at  Ward's 
disclosures  in  regard  to 
Catholic  meditation  and 
Catholic  mission  work, 
with  a  smile  on  his  lips 
at  McMaster's  more  em- 
phatic ebullitions  of  de- 
light. 

It  is  well  known  that 
Ward's  Ideal  not  only  led 
to  its  author's  public  con- 
demnation by  the  au- 
thorities at  Oxford,  but 
was  the  culmination  point 
at  which  Tractarianism 
broke  down,  and  after 
which  a  crowd  of  con- 
verts, both  in  England 
and  America,  came  flut- 
tering into  the  ark.  This 
makes  it  necessary  for  me 

to  revive  the  memory  of  this  book  and  give  some  idea  of  its 
contents. 

The  principal  significance  of  Ward's  Ideal,  and  that  which 
made  it  so  intolerable  to  its  adversaries,  was  that  it  was  so 
pointedly  practical.      It  represented  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 


Cardinal  Newman. 


88  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

ias  full  of  practical  piety,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  represented 
the  English  Church  as  lost  in  a  lifeless  formality.  For  brevity's 
sake  I  shall  confine  myself  to  such  parts  of  this  remarkable  work 
as  touch  upon  the  care  due  from  the  Christian  Church  to  her 
candidates  lor  orders ;  how  such  a  church  must  train  them  to 
piety,  virtue,  and  Christian  perfeo^ion,  and  how  she  needs  must 
hold  them  to  their  daily  duties  as  ministers  of  religious  worship, 
instruct  and  animate  them  in  the  work  of  saving  souls,  and  par- 
ticularly the  souls  of  those  who  are  the  most  destitute  and  aban- 
doned. 

With  abundant  quotations  from  recognized  works,  this  as- 
pect of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  is  exhibited  by  Ward,  and 
the  absence  of  similar  provisions  in  the  English  Church  is  point- 
ed out :  Meditation,  to  make  the  truths  of  religion  more  vivid  ; 
constant  examination  of  conscience,  that  sin  may  not  be  passed 
over  or  forgotten ;  occasional  retreats,  as  a  fresh  start  after 
neglect ;  the  literature  of  ascetic  theology  and  hagiology  to 
stimulate  in  the  service  of  God  by  example  and  precept ;  the 
confessional  for  pardon  and  direction  ;  moral  theology  to  save 
priests  from  caprice,  and  give  them  the  benefit  in  advising  their 
penitents  of  the  experience  of  the  Corporate  Church, — here,  says 
Ward,  are  the  spiritual  weapons  of  the  Church  of  Rome;  and 
where,  he  asks,  can  we  find  their  counterpart  in  England  ? — 
{William  George  Ward  and  the  Oxford  Movement,  by  Wilfred 
Ward,  pp.  279  and  289 ) 

Mr.  Ward  does  not  content  himself  with  general  declarations 
in  favor  of  such  practical  work  among  Roman  Catholics.  He 
gives  an  account  of  the  actual  Rule  of  Life  carried  out  in  a  French 
Ecclesiastical  Seminary,  as  furnished  him  by  the  rector.  Such 
a  rule  of  life  will  be  nothing  new  to  Catholic  readers.  They 
may  find  it  interesting,  however,  as  showing  how  plainly  this 
fearless  Anglican  divine  shook  the  red  scarf  before  the  eyes  of 
John  Bull.  John,  of  course,  received  it  as  a  bitter  taunt,  but 
not  a  few  of  John's  children  were  pained  to  the  heart  by  it, 
and  grieved  over  it  as  those  grieve  who  gaze  upon  graces  for- 
feited. 

The  French  rector  divides  this  rule  of  life  adopted  in  his 
seminary  into  eighteen  points  of   practice.     For  brevity's  sake  I 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  89 

will  content  myself  with  merely  naming  the  most  of  these 
points.  These  are  :  vocal  prayer  at  half-past  five  in  the  morn- 
ing, followed  by  meditation  ;  after  this  the  holy  sacrifice  of  the 
Mass;  visiting  the  altar  where  the  Holy  Eucharist  is  kept,  and 
praying  before  it  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  each  day  ;  a  spiritual 
reading  each  day  from  some  book  of  piety  ;  reciting  the  chap- 
let — that  is,  a  third  part  of  the  rosary ;  a  religious  discourse 
spoken  every  evening  by  the  superior  to  the  whole  community, 
called  the  Spiritual  Conference.  The  day  is  finished  by  evening 
prayer  said  in  common.  The  prayers  then  recited  are  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  the  Angelical  Salutation,  the  Apostles'  Creed.  Confession 
of  sinfulness  is  made  by  a  prayer  called  the  Confiteor ;  then 
acts  of  faith,  hope,  and  charity,  and  of  contrition,  are  made. 
Prayers  are  then  offered  up  for  the  dead.  In  conclusion,  the 
superior  gives  out  the  subject  for  next  day's  meditation.  The 
rule  advises  the  students  to  fix  their  thoughts  upon  it  just  be- 
fore going  to  sleep,  and  as  soon  as  they  awake. 

Twice  in  the  course  of  the  day,  when  assembled  in  the 
chapel,  during  a  pause  in  the  prayers  a  private  examination  of 
conscience  is  made  by  each  one.  The  first  is  made  at  noon, 
just  before  mealtime,  and  is  called  the  particular  examination — 
this  means  an  examination  as  to  the  progress  made  in  some  vir- 
tue specially  proposed  by  each  for  his  own  acquisition,  or  in 
conquering  some  vice  proposed  in  the  same  way  for  correction. 
A  more  general  review  of  conscience  for  the  day  is  made  in  the 
evening. 

Each  student  is  required  to  read  a  chapter  in  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures twice  in  the  day.  It  would  be  a  departure  from  the  ob- 
ject intended  by  the  rule  to  spend  this  time  in  reading  to  im- 
prove one's  self  in  learning,  or  to  satisfy  one's  curiosity.  The 
motive  here  proposed  is  the  quickening  of   the  heart. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  mention  prayers  at  rising  and  get- 
ting into  bed,  before  and  after  meals,  at  the  ringing  of  the  An- 
gelus,  at  the  beginning  and  ending  of  classes,  pious  aspirations 
at  the  sound  of  the  clock,  etc.,  which  are  common  not  only  to 
ecclesiastical  seminaries  but  to  all  Catholic  colleges  and  convent 
schools. 

Mr.  Ward    quotes    his    French    informant    as  stating  that  the 


90  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

superior  of  a  seminary  must  keep  his  door  open  to  the  students 
at  all  times.  He  must  "  cease  to  be  a  man  of  study.  He  must 
give  up  the  notion  of  being  a  learned  man,  otherwise  he  will 
not  be  able  to  do  the  good  which  the  diocese  expects  of  him." 

I  also  pass  over  what  the  good  rector  says  in  regard  to  the 
confessions  and  communions  of  the  students  and  their  selection 
of  a  spiritual  director.  Our  Tractarian  students  at  Chelsea, 
particularly  those  belonging  to  the  missionary  society,  were 
more  specially  interested  at  this  crisis  in  what  the  good  French 
rector  said  to  Mr.  Ward  about  the  practice  of  meditation  and 
spiritual  retreats,  as  used  at  the  seminary.  These  naturally 
lead  up  to  that  great  surprise  which  the  Ideal  of  a  Christian 
Church  brought  to  us,  in  its  account  of  the  "  giving  of  missions." 

The  most  important  spiritual  exercise  noted  by  the  French 
rector  in  the  list  furnished  by  him  to  Mr.  Ward,  as  inculcated 
upon  the  students  by  rule,  is  mental  prayer  or  meditation. 
This,  indeed,  is  found  in  all  Catholic  seminaries.  The  rector 
speaks  of  it  in  the  following  terms  : 

"  Mental  prayer,  or  a  meditation  ;  in  which  the  student  first 
bows  down  in  adoration  before  God,  acknowledging  himself  un- 
worthy of  keeping  himself  fixed  in  his  divine  presence,  and  call- 
ing upon  the  Holy  Spirit  to  help  him  in  his  meditation.  He 
then  enters  on  the  consideration  of  the  subject  proposed  for 
meditation,  all  the  while  frequently  entering  into  himself,  by 
acts  of  humiliation,  by  making  good  resolutions,  and  one  special 
good  resolve  for  that  very  day." 

These  meditations,  with  some  vocal  prayers  before  and  after, 
are  made  in  the  chapel  and  last  half  an  hour.  At  the  semina- 
ries of  St.  Sulpice  they  continue  for  an  hour.  This  matter  of 
meditation  requires  some  further  explanation.  Protestants'  are 
not  easily  made  to  understand  what  Catholics  mean  by  medita- 
tion. And  Catholics  who  have  never  been  Protestants  do  not 
know  what  Protestants  mean  when  they  use  that  word.  Among 
Catholics  prayer  is  generally  distinguished  into  two  kinds,  oral 
and  mental ;  but  oral  prayer  is  not  always  uttered  according  to 
a  prescribed  form  of  words.  As  a  general  rule  Protestants, 
whether  in  public  or  private  prayer,  do  not  follow  any  set  form 
of  words,  except  when   they  repeat    the    Lord's    Prayer.     Angli- 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Angliean  Seminary.  91 

cans,  indeed,  follow  a  ritual  in  public  worship,  and  the  Com- 
mon Prayer  Book  contains  a  form  of  prayer  for  family  worship. 
The  general  rule,  however,  is  to  follow  the  lead  of  their  own 
thoughts  when  praying.  Their  prayers,  indeed,  are  not  medita- 
tions. A  good  memory  for  thoughts  and  phrases,  coupled  with 
a  certain  degree  of  pious  excitement,  is  all  that  is  necessary  to 
furnish  a  facility  for  vocal  prayer.  Nay,  more  than  this,  prayer 
may  be  purely  mental  in  the  sense  of  being  inarticulate,  and 
yet  not  constitute  meditation  considered  as  prayer.  When  a 
Protestant  minister  is  said  to  pray  extempore,  it  simply  means 
that  he  is  preaching  to  his  hearers  over  the  divine  shoulders. 
Whatever  claim  it  may  have  to  be  called  mental  prayer,  it  is 
by  no  means  meditation.  At  best,  it  is  only  fervent  oratory. 
No  doubt  private  and  silent  prayer  among  Protestants  does  of- 
ten reach  to  true  prayer  of  mind  and  heart.  I  am  not  aware, 
however,  that  it  ever  takes  that  form  of  systematic  study  dur- 
ing a  set  time  which  is  called  meditation  in  the  "  Exercises  "  of 
St.  Ignatius,  and  can  be  taught  to  students  in  a  seminary  or  a 
convent,  or  to  novices  in  a  religious  order. 

When,  during  my  course  at  the  seminary  in  Chelsea,  I  read 
Mr.  Ward's  Ideal  of  a  Christian  Church,  and  what  the  French 
rector  wrote  to  him  concerning  mental  prayer,  I  was  unable  to 
understand  how  it  could  be  systematized  and  taught.  I  under- 
stood it  better  when,  a  little  later,  on  my  way  to  the  Adiron- 
dacks  with  Bishop  Wadhams,  then  a  deacon  of  the  Episcopalian 
sect,  we  had  for  fellow-traveller  on  the  Champlain  Canal  a  young 
Catholic  priest  recently  ordained  in  Ireland.  We  questioned  him 
very  closely  upon  this  subject,  and,  although  not  apparently  a 
man  much  given  to  seclusion  or  meditation,  he  was  able  to  give 
us  a  very  satisfactory  account  of  what  he  had  been  taught  in 
regard  to  the  nature  of  meditation  and  the  means  of  practising 
it  profitably.  The  substance  of  what  he  told  us  may  be  found 
thoughtfully  and  beautifully  presented  in  Addis  and  Arnold's 
Catholic  Dictionary,  now  a  familiar  book  among  Catholic  Amer- 
icans : 

"  Meditation  in  its  narrower  and  technical  sense  may  be  de- 
fined as  the  application  of  the  three  powers  of  the  soul  to 
prayer — the  memory  proposing  a  religious    or    moral    truth,  the 


92  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

understanding  considering  this  truth  in  its  application  to  the  in- 
dividual who  meditates,  while  the  will  forms  practical  resolutions 
and  desires  grace  to  keep  them."  ..."  The  method  given 
by  St.  Ignatius  in  his  exercise  is  that  generally  recommended 
and  used,  at  least  till  the  person  who  meditates  forms  a  method 
of  his  own." 

In  truth  it  may  be  said  that  the  more  thoroughly  the  habit 
of  mental  prayer  is  acquired  the  less  necessity  for  the  use  of 
method.  The  "points"  selected  for  meditation  become  shorter; 
a  single  verse  of  Scripture,  a  single  stanza  of  a  familiar  hymn, 
or  indeed  a  single  line  or  expressive  word,  furnishes  to  the  soul 
all  the  matter  needed  to  start  with.  A  thousand  cumulative 
thoughts  cluster  around  it,  the  fruit  is  soon  ready  to  be 
gathered,  holy  affections  of  the  heart  are  sooner  reached  ;  holy 
purposes  and  resolutions  grow  up  so  spontaneously  that  all 
thought  of  method  is  cast  away.  The  hour  or  half-hour  ceases 
to  be  long,  until  meditation  is  abandoned  for  other  duties  with 
regret. 

I  do  not  stop  here  to  introduce  the  idea  of  contemplation, 
where  all  process  of  reasoning  ceases  and  is  lost  in  a  sort  of 
passive  beholding,  a  high  grade  of  prayer  to  which  only  a  few 
Christians  reach. 

The  French  seminary  rector  quoted  in  Ward's  Ideal  supposes 
the  nature  and  purpose  of  meditation  to  be  well  understood, 
and  gives  us  only  the  methods  to  be  adopted  in  order  to  make 
it  successful  and  fruitful.  A  habit  of  spiritual  reading  is  neces- 
sary as  the  more  remote  preparation  for  it.  This  furnishes  the 
mind  with  material  for  thought.  To  bow  down  in  silence,  to 
call  to  mind  the  presence  of  God,  and  to  invoke  the  Holy 
Ghost,  are  the  immediate  steps  to  be  taken  when  beginning 
this  kind  of  prayer.  St.  Ignatius  intensified  its  power  and  ex- 
tended its  influence  over  souls  by  introducing  his  system  of 
spiritual  retreats,  in  which  an  entire  month  was  given  to  soli- 
tude and  meditation.  This  time  is  now  often  shortened  to  a 
week,  or  even  three  days.  These  meditations,  moreover,  were 
systematized  into  an  admirable  series,  so  arranged  that  each 
meditation  should  naturally  lead  up  to  another.  The  soul  is 
made  to   consider  by  turns  and    progressively    the    object  of   its 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Scviinary.  93 

being,  its  destiny,  its  sins,  the  punishment  due  to  sin,  the 
remedies  provided  through  the  mercy  of  God,  the  means  of 
sanctification  through  his  grace,  until  at  last  in  this  sacred  soli- 
tude the  soul  is  brought  forward  to  the  highest  desires  for 
union  with  its  Maker,  to  the  strongest  resolves  to  live  for  the 
glory  of  God  alone. 

The  Catholic  Church  is  furnished  with  a  large  number  of 
priests  who  have  trained  themselves  by  long  study  and  careful 
experience  to  guide  others  through  these  spiritual  exercises,  as 
St.  Ignatius  trained  his  first  companions  in  the  order  which  he 
founded. 

Finally  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  began  his  work  of  popular  mis- 
sions in  country  parishes  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor,  and  es- 
pecially those  most  destitute  of  instruction  and  spiritual  succor. 
This  new  form  of  domestic  missionary  work  has  now  grown  to 
be  almost  universal  in  the  Catholic  Church,  carrying  everywhere 
into  the  bosom  of  her  fold  in  a  rational  way,  and  with  a  deep- 
er and  fuller  power,  a  reformation  of  morals  and  a  quickening 
of  spiritual  life  which  the  wild  emotional  efforts  of  Wesley 
and  Whitefield  could  not  bring  about.  These  missions,  regarded 
in  the  light  of  the  means  and  methods  employed  and  the 
effects  produced,  may  be  considered  as  the  natural  outgrowth 
of  spiritual  retreats.  The  large  audiences  gathered  cannot  be 
brought  to  the  same  solitude  and  silence,  but  much  of  retire- 
ment from  the  world  is  practically  involved  in  their  constant 
attendance  at  the  church.  They  cannot  meditate  as  in  more 
private  retreats,  but  an  unusual  amount  of  reflection  is  involved 
in  listening  to  so  many  daily  sermons  and  instructions,  and 
taking  so  much  part  in  prayer.  Skilful  missionaries  consult  to- 
gether upon  the  order  of  subjects  to  be  introduced.  The  con- 
fessional shows  how  far  the  good  seed  sown  has  produced  good 
results  and  what  is  still  most  wanting,  and  both  the  order  of 
preaching  and  the  special  way  of  treating  each  sermon  may  be 
varied  accordingly.  In  fine,  the  method  of  "  giving  missions  " 
has  grown  to  be  a  peculiar  science  and  holy  art  unknown  out- 
side of  the  Catholic  Church. 

All  the  above  is  introduced  in  this  place  as  belonging  to 
these  reminiscences  of  a  Protestant  seminary  at   a  most  momen- 


94  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

tous  period.  We  seminarians  at  Chelsea  were  all  of  us  more  or 
less  interested  in  a  great  attempt  to  galvanize  Anglicanism. 
Ward's  new  book  introduced  us  to  Romanism,  so  called,  as  fur- 
nishing the  best  practical  ideal  of  a  true  Christian  Church. 
One  prominent  sign  of  its  vitality  lay  in  its  wonder-working 
custom  and  method  of  giving  missions.  His  book  gave  a  de- 
scription of  a  mission  furnished  to  him  by  a  prominent  Roman 
Catholic,  with  most  interesting  details  of  its  purpose,  plan,  and 
effects.  It  was  a  new  light.  Mr.  Ward's  book  is  not  accessible 
to  me  at  this  moment,  and  perhaps  it  is  not  necessary  at  this 
time  to  introduce  any  extracts  from  it.  Suffice  it  to  say  that 
for  the  most  part  the  conduct  of  these  missions  is  left  to  mis- 
sionaries reared  in  convents.  To  this  circumstance  is  due  in 
some  degree  the  fact  that  many  of  us  students,  when  looking 
forward  to  our  own  career  in  the  ministry,  were  led  to  associate 
monasticism  with  our  aspirations  to  a  life  of  missionary  labor. 


Glimpses  of  Lijc  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  95 


CHAPTER   VII. 

SLOWNESS  OF  THE  MOVEMENT  ROMEWARD.— OVER- HASTY  AT- 
TEMPTS TO  CRACK  THE  PROTESTANT  NUT.— DUNIGAN. — 
BAKER. —  PHINNEY.  —  MOEHLER'S  "SYMBOLISM."  —  LIVES  OF 
THE   EARLY    ENGLISH    SAINTS. 

CATHOLICS  whose  attention  had  been  called  to  the  nov- 
elties brewing  at  our  seminary  must  have  thought  it  very 
strange  that  it  took  us  so  long  to  find  out  where  the  truth 
lay  and  to  embrace  the  whole  Catholic  faith,  worship,  and  church 
with  one  confiding  hug.  It  needs  but  a  short  argument  to 
show  that  only  the  Catholic  body  has  true  unity  and  that 
variation  is  the  very  law  and  life  of  Protestantism.  This  ought 
to  be  enough  to  bring  them  all  into  the  true  fold  by  a  short 
and  easy  process.  Men  who  think  thus,  however,  think  so  very 
superficially.  In  real  life  the  best  and  most  earnest  minds  are 
not  accustomed  to  travel  by  these  short  cuts.  An  extensive 
horse-breeder  and  trainer  once  said,  in  answer  to  a  question  of 
mine:  "Horses,  sir,  are  very  intelligent  animals,  and  when  they 
see  an  old  charred  stump  on  the  roadside  they  know  very 
well  that  it's  nothing  but  a  stump.  But  you  see  they  are  very 
cautious  creatures ;  nature  has  made  them  so,  and  they  don't 
know  at  first  sight  what  is  behind  the  stump." 

It  was  the  same  thing  with  many  of  us  at  the  seminary. 
We  soon  got  used  to  discussions  about  the  church.  We  soon 
learned  to  understand  that  Christ  instituted  a  visible  church, 
organized  a  tangible  and  approachable  body.  That  church  he 
ofificered  himself,  giving  it  not  only  a  complete  doctrine  to 
transmit,  and  sacraments  furnished  with  grace,  but  also  a 
divine  mission,  or  right  to  act  in  his  name.  This  right,  we 
understood,  could  only  be  transmitted  by  that  church  and  in  it. 
This  mission  or  divine  current  of  jurisdiction  is  interrupted  by 
schism  and  ceases  to  flow  into  a  severed  member.     All  this  was 


96  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

pretty  much  understood  by  the  more  advanced  Tractarian 
students  at  the  seminary,  and  yet  they  were  by  no  means  pre- 
pared to  leap  at  once  into  the  ancient  church.  Other  questions, 
profound  and  precious,  lay  before  them  still  unsolved.  Let  me 
here  refer  to  an  incident  which  occurred  at  some  time  during 
my  second  year  at  the  seminary,  precisely  when  I  cannot 
remember,  which  exemplifies  how  hard  it  is  for  Catholics  **  to 
the  manner  born  "  to  understand  the  perplexities  and  needs  of 
a  Protestant  outsider  searching  for  the  truth. 

I  went  down-street  one  day  to  Dunigan's  bookstore.  He 
kept  at  that  time,  if  I  remember  right,  far  down  in  Broadway, 
or  possibly  in  William  or  Nassau  Street.  I  inquired  for 
Moehler's  Symbolism.  He  said  to  me  (I  think  it  was  Dunigan 
himself)  : 

"  I  don't  think  it  is  Moehler  that  you  want." 

"What  then  do  I  want?"  I  returned. 

"  The  right  book  for  you,"  he  said,  "  is  Bossuet's  Variations 
of  Protestantism.'' 

"  No,  sir.  You  are  mistaken.  The  variations  of  Protest- 
antism have  been  going  on  since  Bossuet  died,  and  perhaps  I 
know  of  many  variations  that  he  never  heard  of." 

"  Ah,"  said  he,  "  I  think  I  understand  you.  What  you  need 
is  Milner's  E)id  of  Controversy.  That's  something  quite  re- 
cent." 

"  No,"  I  persisted,  "  I  do  not  need  Milner  either.  I  read  it 
through  and  through,  and  feel  no  call  to  refer  to  it  any  more. 
I  know  its  contents  pretty  well  and  have  gathered  much  truth 
out  of  it,  but  it  is  not  the  end  of  controversy  for  me.  I  have 
other  questions  to  solve  and  deeper  ones.  What  I  want  is 
Moehler's  Symbolism^ 

He  gave  me  a  compassionate  smile,  but  found  the  book  for 
me  and  I  took  it  home  to  my  room  in  the  seminary.  It 
proved  to  be  a  treasure  indeed.  I  think  I  learned  of  the  ex- 
istence and  contents  of  this  book  from  some  reference  or  re- 
view of  it  in  the  British  Critic.  It  had  made  a  deep  impres- 
sion on  Dr.  Newman's  mind. 

Protestants  are  not  heathens ;  far  from  it.  Their  reasons 
cannot  be    reached  by  the    same    easy  and  simple    means  which 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  A)igl'Lcaji  Scviinary.  97 

suffice  for  the  ignorant  heathen.  When  the  Christian  revelation 
is  fairly  presented  to  the  heathen  mind,  their  ignorance  has  so 
little  to  show  in  opposition  that  they  are  more  ready  to  em- 
brace it  trustfully  and  in  its  entirety.  The  obex,  or  obstacle,  to 
truth  presented  by  their  simple  superstitions  is  a  comparative- 
ly small  one.  The  Protestant  mind,  on  the  contrary,  however 
cultivated,  is  by  no  means  simple,  nor  in  the  same  sense 
ignorant.  It  is  nearer  the  truth  to  say  that  they  know  too 
much.  They  are  oftentimes,  to  quote  St.  Paul,  "more  wise 
than  it  behoveth  to  be  wise."  Their  minds  are  too  much  pos- 
sessed with  things  that  are  not  so.  -  The  obex  which  they  pre- 
sent to  Catholic  truth  is  something  multitudinous,  complex, 
over-refined.  It  is  so  engrafted,  so  commingled  with  their 
pious  emotions,  so  closely  webbed  and  interwoven  with  all  their 
past  thoughts  and  memories,  that  they  mistake  prejudice  for  a 
rational  conviction.  True  doctrine  "in  a  nutshell"  is  not 
truth  presented  in  a  form  in  which  they  can  receive  it.  The 
attempt  so  frequently  made  thus  to  present  it,  and  settle  the 
whole  question  at  once,  is  well  illustrated  in  my  memory  by  an 
anecdote  from  the  experience  of  Father  Baker,  the  Paulist, 
which  I  have  from  himself.  During  the  time  when  he  was 
stationed  as  rector  at  St.  Luke's  Church,  Baltimore,  a  priest 
rang  the  bell  at  his  door  and  asked  to  see  him.  He  presented 
no  card  and  gave  no  name.  Biker's  sister,  who  opened  the 
door,  noticing  this  and  not  liking  the  exterior  make-up  of  the 
visitor,  whose  language  and  style  of  dress  were  something  new 
to  her,  was  somewhat  alarmed  and  disinclined  to  introduce  him 
tc  her  brother's  room.  This,  however,  she  did.  He  took  his 
seat  and  immediately  opened  the  purpose  of  his  visit.  What  he 
said  was  substantially  as  follows : 

"  I  have  heard  of  you,  Mr.  Baker.  I  understand  that  you 
have  strong  inclinations  toward  the  Catholic  Church,  but  you 
remain  still  in  doubt.  I  can  prove  to  you  in  a  few  short  words 
that  she  is  the  only  true  church.  Now  listen  to  me  attentively 
for  a  moment.  See  here !  The  church  is  necessarily  one,  for 
Christ  her  founder  is  one,  and  he  only  made  one.  Keep  that  in 
mind.  Now  then :  the  church  is  also  holy,  for  Christ  made  her 
so,  in  order  to  sanctify  the  world.     Keep  that  in  mind  also."     He 


^^^ 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seniinary.  99 

then  proceeded  in  like  manner  to  show  that  the  true  church 
must  be  Catholic  and  apostolic.  After  this,  in  the  same  brief 
manner,  he  went  on  to  prove  that  only  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  bore  these  four  marks  of  being  the  true  one.  Father 
Baker  listened  in  silence  to  what  he  had  to  say,  but  was  quite 
surprised  to  see  the  good  father  rise  after  completing  this  short 
argument ;  a  hearty  shaking  of  hands  followed,  and  satisfied 
with  this  the  enthusiastic  visitor  withdrew,  feeling  that  he  had 
finished  his  job.  He  was  a  good  man  and  a  most  exemplary 
priest.  He  belonged  to  a  class  of  men  to  be  met  with  every- 
where. Wadhams  and  I  heard  of  him  during  the  course  of  this 
year,  or  the  winter  of  the  next,  while  among  the  Adirondacks. 
McMaster  had  been  visited  by  him  in  his  retirement  at  Hyde 
Park,  and  had  been  highly  pleased  by  him,  for  this  priest  had 
seen  much,  and  there  were  few  places  in  the  United  States  which 
he  had  not  visited  ;  he  knew  something  of  everything.  He 
came  to  me  shortly  after  I  became  a  Catholic  and  proposed  to 
me  a  variety  of  good  devotions.  I  did  not  care  to  be  ham- 
pered with  too  many  things  all  at  once,  and  in  this  I  was  sup- 
ported by  the  counsel  of  a  wise  director.  Such  men  do  not 
generally  bring  about  many  healthy  conversions.  But  if  treated 
wisely  and  gently  by  their  superiors,  and  not  trusted  with  the 
management  of  difficult  matters,  they  may  do  more  good  than 
wiser  men  with  less  worthy  motives. 

I  fear  to  have  set  down  too  strong  an  example  to  illustrate 
well  the  point  I  would  present.  Many  Catholics  even  with  bet- 
ter regulated  minds  often  make  serious  mistakes  when  under- 
taking to  lead  converts  into  the  church. 

The  false  maxims  to  which  Protestants  have  become  accus- 
tomed may  be  digested  and  generalized,  and  so  briefly  stated 
as  to  find  room  in  a  nutshell.  That  nutshell,  however,  they  will 
never  acknowledge.  They  know  that  in  their  hearts  there  is  a 
religion  deeper,  truer,  and  more  solid  than  that  nut  holds.  You 
may  crack  that  nut  before  their  eyes,  but  they  do  not  feel  hurt 
by  your  vigorous  hammer. 

A  little  more  than  three  years  after  leaving  the  seminary  at 
Chelsea  I  happened  to  be  in  Birmingham,  England.  The  Rev. 
Dr.  Phinney,  of    Oberlin    College,  was    there    at    the   same  time 


lOO  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Angliean  Seviiuary. 

preaching  ;  I  had  got  acquainted  with  him  some  six  years  ear- 
lier when  in  the  United  States.  I  admired  the  man  and  felt 
much  attached  to  him.  Another  gentleman,  whose  acquaintance 
I  had  made  in  America,  was  also  in  Birmingham  at  the  same 
time ;  this  was  Baron  Schroeder,  a  highly  educated  Catholic 
layman  from  Germany.  He  persuaded  me  to  go  with  him  on  a 
visit  to  Dr.  Phinney  at  his  lodgings.  Dr.  Phinney  and  his  wife 
received  us  both  very  cordially  and  we  had  a  long  and  pleasant 
interview.  A  good  part  of  the  time  was  spent  in  amicable  con- 
troversy. I  was,  of  course,  but  a  novice  in  theology.  The 
baron  was  a  well-educated  scholar,  especially  in  philosophy. 
Professor  Phinney,  intellectually  far  superior  to  either  of  us,  was 
not  only  an  eloquent  and  powerful  preacher,  but  an  expert  in 
doctrinal  discussion.  I  only  introduce  this  visit  here  to  illus- 
trate what  I  have  said,  that  Protestantism,  if  it  be  understood 
to  comprise  all  that  constitutes  the  religious  life  and  belief  of  an 
earnest  Protestant,  cannot  be  reduced  to  the  compass  of  a  nutshell. 

*'  Gentlemen,"  said  the  good  doctor  in  the  course  of  conver- 
sation, "  I  am  not  prepared  to  say  that  I  hold  no  religious  er- 
rors. Some  of  these  may  possibly  be  important  errors.  One 
thing,  however,  I  cannot  allow  myself  to  admit.  To  allow  that 
I  do  not  understand  the  Christian  religion  in  its  substantial  and 
essential  features  is  a  supposition  from  which  my  whole  soul  re- 
coils." 

I  give  Dr.  Phinney  as  a  type  of  an  earnest  and  intelligent 
Protestant.  There  was  a  vast  amount  of  belief  in  him.  No 
nutshell  could  cover  it. 

Moehler  had  studied  well  the  age  in  which  he  lived.  He  knew 
the  Protestant  mind.  He  knew  that  it  could  not  be  captured 
by  a  single  syllogism,  and  that  a  few  texts  establishing  church 
authority  are  seldom  sufficient  to  bring  an  educated  Protestant 
to  the  true  faith  and  into  the  true  fold.  Moehler  devotes  his 
book  on  symbolism  not  only  to  these  but  to  all  the  doctrines 
which  belong  to  religious  faith  and  worship.  He  treats  of  the 
attributes  of  God,  the  nature  of  man,  man's  relations  with  God, 
the  nature  of  grace,  etc.  He  compares  together  carefully  the 
acknowledged  symbols  of  Protestantism  and  Catholicity,  and 
presents    both    in    their  real  light  to  religious  souls  who  wish  to 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  loi 

live  by  the  true  law  of  spiritual  life.  Such  Protestants  are  the 
only  ones  that  come  to  the  Catholic  Church,  or  at  least  that 
come  to  stay.  Catholic  polemics  in  our  day  must  learn  new 
texts  of  Scripture,  glean  new  maxims  from  the  Christian  fathers, 
and  provide  new  fish-hooks  and  more  efficient  bait.  So  far  as  I 
know  of,  no  convert  of  the  Chelsea  Seminary  was  brought  to 
the  door  of  the  Catholic  Church  either  by  Milner's  End  of  Con- 
troversy or  Bossuet's   Variations,  strong   though  they  be. 

The  general  spirit  which  characterized  that  seminary  was,  to 
the  best  of  my  recollection  and  in  my  opinion,  a  good  one. 
There  was  a  value  attached  to  sound  doctrine,  and  very  little 
attached  to  the  idea  that  "  it  makes  little  difference  what  a  man 
believes,  if  only  he  be  sincere."  Dogmatic  theology — that  is  to 
say,  the  science  of  presenting  religious  truth  in  its  true  aspect 
and  in  its  proper  relations  with  other  truths — stood  high  in  honor 
there.  I  cannot  remember  that  I  ever  heard  dogmatic  theology 
spoken  of  respectfully  until  I  came  to  the  seminary  at  Chelsea. 
Religion  and  all  that  is  worth  knowing  about  religion  is  gener- 
ally supposed  by  Protestants  to  come  to  one  as  Santa  Claus 
comes  to  the  children,  while  they  are  not  looking  out  for  it, 
but  asleep. 

Our  Tractarian  students  at  Chelsea  ranked  high  among  the 
others  as  diligent  scholars,  and  this  gained  for  them  favor  with 
the  professors,  the  majority  of  whom  were  by  no  means  Trac- 
tarian. It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  students  of  this  stamp 
when  once  introduced  to  Moehler's  Symbolism,  should  become 
fascinated  with  it.  It  was  not  a  book  which  professed  to  teach 
Catholicity  in  six  easy  lessons  which  should  avoid  all  necessity 
of  investigating  farther.  It  did  not  profess  to  furnish  an  all- 
sufficient  egg  which  should  develop  itself  and  required  no  brood- 
ing to  bring  it  to  a  development.  Moehler  takes  up  the  whole 
of  Catholic  doctrine,  yet  article  by  article.  The  external  marks 
of  the  true  church,  which  prove  her  right  to  teach,  are  not 
omitted.  The  doctrines  which  she  teaches  are  also  all  brought 
forward  and  have  their  own  distinct  grounds  to  stand  upon. 
The  acknowledged  councils  of  the  church  with  her  canons  and 
decrees  when  cited  are  given  in  her  own  words,  not  fearing  to 
commit  her  to  her    own    declarations.     Side  by  side  with  these 


102  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Angliean  Seminary. 

are  placed  the  doctrines  of  the  Protestant  reformers,  expressed 
in  their  own  words.  The  Anglican  Church,  with  her  symbols 
or  formularies  of  doctrine  and  worship,  is  placed  side  by  side 
with  the  Roman  Catholic,  as  the  queen  in  "  Hamlet  "  is  made  to 
look  first  at  the  portrait  of  her  husband  and  then  upon  the  face 
of  her  crowned  paramour — 

"  Look  here,  upon  this  picture,  and  on  this." 

Moehler  understands  well  the  effect  necessarily  produced  up- 
on a  fair  mind  by  two  faithful  portraits  thus  distinctly  presented 
in  their  own  dress  and  with  their  own  native  features.  Then 
the  beholder  with  a  genuine  conviction  may  say  of  the  true 
king— 

"  See,  what  a  grace  was  seated  on  this  brow," 

while  the  other  has  little  but  his  clothing  to  present,  and  stands 

"  A  king  of  shreds  and  patches !  " 

a  mere  show  of  apostolical  succession,  without  any  rightful  in- 
heritance of  divine  mission,  holding  forth  a  Common  Prayer 
Book  which  comprises  in  one  cover  a  jumbled  jargon  of  doc- 
trine. 

Moehler's  Symbolism  did  more  to  lead  me  to  a  comprehensive 
knowledge  of  the  Catholic  faith  and  to  take  the  final  step  of 
entering  the  Catholic  fold  than  any  other  book.  I  have  always 
preferred  it  above  all  others  as  a  book  to  lend  to  thoughtful 
and  studious  Protestants. 

I  have  perhaps  said  enough  to  show  what  doctrinal  vitality — 
that  is,  what  eagerness  to  know  the  real  truth — existed  among 
Episcopalians  at  the  time  included  in  these  reminiscences,  and 
was  perhaps  more  focused  at  our  seminary  than  anywhere  else  in 
America.  It  would  be  a  great  oversight  to  make  no  mention  of 
a  spirit  still  more  precious  and  vital  which  I  found  kindled  there 
and  which  must  account  for  many  conversions  to  the  faith. 
Arthur  Carey  was  the  chief  centre  of  this  flame,  as  he  was  the 
chief  leader  in  the  inquiry  after  truth.  His  residence  at  the 
seminary    occupied   a    period    of    four  years,  including  one  year 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Scmitiary.  103 


during  which,  being  too  young  for  ordination,  he  kept  his  old 
room,  mingling  as  freely  with  the  students  as  a  secluded  life  of 
study  and  prayer  like  his  would  allow.  Every  one  was  glad  to 
know  him,  even  those  who  looked  upon  him  as  all  the  more 
dangerous  from  the  very  fact  of  his  being  pious,  sincere,  and 
virtuous.  His  sayings  about  religious  topics  of  the  day  were  re- 
peated about  among  us  from  mouth  to  mouth,  as  the  last  words 
would  be  cited  that  came  from  Newman  or  Dalgairns.  Not  all 
were  disposed  to  follow  his  opinions,  but  no  one  could  afford 
to  be  ignorant  of  what  he  thought  and  said.  It  cannot  reason- 
ably be  doubted  that  at  the  bottom  of  the  Tractarian  move- 
ment there  lay,  not  merely  a  demand  for  pure  and  Catholic 
truth  but  also  for  a  holy  life.  The  spirit  of  high  and  dry 
churchmanship  did  not  preside  at  the  seminary.  It  was,  no 
doubt,  the  real  spirit  of  Anglicanism,  but  it  was  as  unpalatable 
to  Tractarians  as  it  was  to  Evangelicals,  and  more  so. 

In  this  state  of  things  it  was  impossible  that  books  emanat- 
ing from  Oxford,  and  showing  the  new  kindled  piety  which 
breathed  there,  should  not  find  free  circulation  at  the  seminary. 
Keble's  Christian  Year  lay  liere  and  there  upon  the  tables  of 
those  who  loved  poetry.  Soon  followed  the  Lyra  Apostolica,  to 
which  Keble,  Newman,  Hurrell  Froude,  and  many  other  leading 
spirits  of  the  "  Movement "  contributed  words  burning  with 
piety  and  often  radiant  with  the  truest  poetry.  Faber  was 
better  known  at  that  time  as  a  romantic  poet,  but  he  was  re- 
cognized "  as  one  of  them,"  and  as  such  found  a  few  readers 
amongst  us.  But  a  greater  charm  than  any  of  these  possessed 
was  to  be  found  in  the  Lives  of  the  Early  English  Saints.  This 
was  a  series  of  biographies  written  by  Anglicans  of  the  Oxford 
school,  and  was  a  most  influential  element  in  its  great  move- 
ment towards  real  Catholic  truth  and  life.  The  series  was  con- 
fined to  English  saints.  There  was  wisdom  in  this  restriction. 
It  took  into  account  English  national  prejudice  by  showing 
lives  of  sanctity  lived  on  English  ground.  At  the  same  time 
an  honest  presentation  of  English  sanctity  in  early  times 
would  be  sure  to  show  how  little  it  looks  like  modern 
Anglican  piety,  and  hovv  distinctly  it  presents  itself  associated 
with  the  doctrines,  worship,  and  austere  practices  of  the  Church 


I04  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 


of  Rome.  The  writers  of  these  lives  did  not  propose,  nor  in- 
deed consciously  intend,  to  lead  their  readers  to  relinquish  their 
own  communion  and  unite  with  the  Roman  Catholics.  What 
they  proposed  is  well  stated  by  Wilfrid  Ward  in  his  book  en- 
titled William  George  Ward  and  the  Oxford  Movement  (chapter 
vii.  page   142).     He  says  : 

"  The  love  of  Rome  and  of  an  united  Christendom  which 
marked  the  new  school  was  not  purely  a  love  for  ecclesiastical 
authority.  This  was  indeed  one  element ;  but  there  was  another 
yet  more  influential  in  many  minds — admiration  for  the  saints  of 
the  Roman  Church,  and  for  the  saintly  ideal  as  realized  especi- 
ally in  the  monastic  life.  We  have  already  seen  how  this 
element  operated  in  Mr.  Ward's  own  history.  Froude  had 
struck  the  note  of  sanctity  as  well  as  the  note  of  authority. 
He  had  raised  an  inspiring  ideal  on  both  heads ;  and  behold, 
with  however  much  of  practical  corruption  and  superstition 
mixed  up  with  their  practical  exhibition,  these  ideals  were 
actually  reverenced,  attempted,  often  realized,  in  the  existing 
Roman  Church.  The  worthies  of  the  English  Church — even 
when  sharing  the  tender  piety  of  George  Herbert  or  Bishop 
Ken — fell  short  of  the  heroic  aims,  the  martial  sanctity,  gained 
by  warfare  unceasing  against  world,  flesh,  and  devil,  which  they 
found  exhibited  in  Roman  Hagiology.  The  glorying  in  the 
cross  of  Christ  which  is  the  key-note  to  such  lives  as  those  of 
St.  Ignatius  of  Loyola  and  St.  Francis  Xavier,  while  it  recalled 
much  in  the  life  of  St.  Paul,  had  no  counterpart  in  post-Re- 
formation Anglicanism." 

As  early  as  the  long  vacation  at  Oxford  of  1842  the  idea 
suggested  itself  to  the  mind  of  Dr.  Newman  of  getting  out 
this  series  of  the  Lives  of  the  English  Saints,  and  immediate 
measures  were  taken  to  secure  writers  and  prepare  for  publica- 
tion. The  first  of  the  series  reached  our  seminary,  I  think,  in 
the  winter  of  1843  ^^^  '44>  during  my  second  year's  course.  I 
have  no  complete  list  by  me  of  the  saints  comprised  in  this 
series,  but  it  included  the  Life  of  St.  Stephen  Harding,  founder 
of  the  Cistercians,  which  involves  much  of  that  of  his  disciple, 
the  great  St.  Bernard,  St.  Austin  of  Canterbury,  St.  Woolstan, 
St.  William,  St.  Paulinus,  St.  Bega,  St.  Gilbert,  St.  Richard  and 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  105 


his  family,  and  Legends  of  Hermit  Saints,  some  of  these  writ- 
ten by  Newman  himself. 

These  biographies  were  couched  in  language  more  or  less 
watered  to  suit  Anglican  ears ;  but  no  daintiness  of  style  nor 
dilution  of  matter  could  conceal  the  fact  that  the  early  English 
saints  were  utterly  unlike  Anglicans  of  the  present  day.  In  his 
Apologia  pro  Vita  Sua  Dr.  Newman  gives  us  his  motives  for 
starting  this  new  enterprise. 

"  I  thought  it  would  be  useful,"  he  says,  "  as  employing  the 
minds  of  men  who  were  in  danger  of  running  wild,  bringing 
them  from  doctrine  to  history,  and  from  speculation  to  fact ; 
again,  as  giving  them  an  interest  in  the  English  soil  and  the 
English  Church,  and  keeping  them  from  seeking  sympathy  in 
Rome,  as  she  is;  and  further  as  seeking  to  promote  the  spread 
of  right  views." 

This  plan,  however,  for  holding  back  earnest  and  truth-seek- 
ing minds  from  the  necessary  consequences  which  attach  to 
truth,  could  not  and  did  not  work.  Scarcely  had  his  project 
taken  wing  than  he  was  forced  to  write  to  a  friend  :  "  Within 
the  last  month,  it  has  come  upon  me  that,  if  the  scheme  goes 
on,  it  will  be  a  practical  carrying  out  of  No.  90  ;  from  the  char- 
acter of  the  usages  and  opinions  of  ante-reformation  times." 

So  indeed  it  was.  Like  No.  90,  it  forced  matters  onward 
to  a  crisis  both  in  England  and  America.  It  did  more  than 
this.  It  led  many  eager  minds  to  a  more  special  consideration 
of  monastic  life  as  combining  in  its  bosom  a  special  grace  for 
self-purification  and  perfection  with  a  zeal  for  missionary  labor. 
St.  Stephen  Harding,  of  Citeaux,  was  the  model  of  a  monk  to 
whom  the  whole  world  had  nothing  to  offer.  St.  Bernard,  his 
great  disciple,  carried  out  from  Citeaux  a  burning  heart  to 
which  the  world  of  souls  was  always  appealing. 

In  the  next  chapter  I  propose  to  show  how  the  admiration 
for  monasticism  thus  aroused  led  ardent  souls  among  the  Chel- 
sea graduates  and  students  to  projecting  monastic  institutions 
in  their  own  church  and  actually  experimenting  in  them. 


lo6  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

A  PROTESTANT  CITEAUX  IN  THE  WEST. — NASHOTAH  FOUNDED 
ON  MONASTICISM. — KIP"S  VISIT  IN  1 847. — THE  FOUNDERS 
GET  MARRIED. — ST.  MARY'S  PRIORY  IN  THE  ADIRONDACKS. — 
EPISCOPALIAN    SISTERHOODS. 

THE  last  three  chapters  show  how  Tractarian  doctrines,  so 
rife  at  the  Chelsea  Seminary,  acting  upon  a  spirit  of  in- 
terior piety  and  zeal  for  the  salvation  of  souls,  and  combining 
both  of  these  together  in  the  same  bosoms,  led  on  gradually 
to  an  eagerness  to  introduce  something  like  monastic  life  into 
Anglicanism.  Americans  are  a  people  too  practical  and  enter- 
prising to  be  much  attracted  by  thumb-sucking  saints.  Even  our 
transcendental  pantheists  of  New  England,  inclined  as  they  are 
betimes  to  contemplation  and  fond  of  Brahminical  lore  and 
legends,  are  not  easily  disposed  to  sit  dreaming  with  their  backs 
against  the  trunks  of  trees  until  their  hair  grows  into  the  bark. 
At  Brook  Farm  the  stirring  motto  was 

Hast  thou  aught  to  teach,  then  teach  it ; 
Preach   it 

Loud  and  long ; 

Sing  it  if  it  be  a  song. 
Be  thou  prophet,  be  thou  poet, 
If  thou  know  it,  go  it — 

Strong. 

When  Dalgairns's  Life  of  St.  Stephen  Harding  first  found  its 
way  across  the  water  to  Chelsea,  the  sensation  it  produced  was 
intense.  St.  Bernard  was  not  an  Englishman,  and  his  character 
and  career  could  not  easily  be  put  forth  directly  in  a  series  of 
Lives  of  the  English  Saints.  But  St.  Stephen,  the  founder  of 
Citeaux,  could  give  his  name   to    a    volume  which    should  bring 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  107 

forward  luminously  the  career  of  the  great  St.  Bernard,  the 
master-spirit  of  the  Cistercian  Order.  St.  Bernard  was  one  of  the 
very  holiest  of  contemplatives ;  and  yet,  forced  from  the  seclu- 
sion which  he  loved  by  his  burning  zeal,  by  the  constant  needs 
and  pressing  calls  of  Christendom,  his  voice  was  made  to  resound 
throughout  the  whole  Continent  of  Europe.  He  was,  in  truth, 
the  very  type  of  a  missionary  monk. 

Something  like  Citeaux  was  already  existing  in  the  Anglican 
Church  of  America.  It  was  at  Nashotah,  in  Wisconsin.  This 
institute  was  in  reality  an  attempt,  under  the  name  of  a  mis- 
sionary station,  to  found  a  veritable  monastery.  Its  founder  was 
James  Lloyd  Breck,  a  graduate  of  the  Chelsea  Seminary  of  1841. 
Associated  with  him  were  two  of  his  classmates,  William  Adams 
and  John  Henry  Hobart.  That  the  intention  was  to  found  a 
monastery  is  evident  from  a  letter,  now  in  my  possession,  written 
by  Breck  to  Wadhams,  October  21,  1842,  inviting  him  to  come 
and  join  them.     The  letter  says  : 

"  If,  dear  Wadhams,  you  conclude  to  come,  remember  we  re- 
ceive you  on  the  ground  of  our  first  principles,  which  are:  (1) 
so  long  as  connected  with  this  institution  to  remain  unmarried ; 
(2)  to  yield  implicit  and  full  obedience  to  all  the  rules  and  regu- 
lations of  the  body  ;  (3)  community  of  goods  so  long  as  commu- 
nity of  purpose  ;  (4)  teaching  on  the  staunch  Catholic  principles  ; 
(5)  preaching  from  place  to  place  on  circuits — route,  mode,  etc., 
to  be  determined  by  the  bishop,  or  by  one  authorized  by  him." 

An  earlier  letter  to  the  same  from  Adams  breathes  the  same 
spirit.  "  Dear  brother,"  he  writes,  "  if  you  can  in  almost  every 
way  deny  yourself,  can  be  content  to  remain  unmarried  for  an 
indefinite  period,  to  live  on  the  coarsest  food,  to  deny  yourself 
the  pleasure  of  cultivated  society  ;   then  come  to  Wisconsin." 

As  Nashotah,  then  an  object  of  longing  interest  to  many 
hearts  at  the  General  Seminary,  grew  in  a  few  years  to  be  a 
flourishing  institution,  though  far  different  from  what  its  foun- 
ders intended  to  make  it,  it  may  be  well  to  give  some  further 
description  of  this  institute  and  its  locality,  in  its  early  days. 
Bishop  Kip,  of  California,  visited  it  as  early  as  1847.  I  gather 
the  following  materials  from  a  pamphlet  of  his,  published  at 
that  time,  entitled  A    few  Days   at  Nashotah.     The  lands  of  the 


Io8  Glunpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

Nashotah  Mission  were  adjoining  those  of  Bishop  Kemper,  then 
having  charge  of  the  territory  in  which  this  mission  was  included. 
On  their  first  arrival  Breck,  Adams,  and  Hobart  had  assigned 
to  them  Prairieville,  with  a  circuit  of  thirty  miles  around.  Af- 
ter nine  months  they  settled  at  the  Nashotah  Lakes.  Bishop 
Kip  thus  describes  their  location  : 

"  The  whole  of  this  part  of  the  country  is  intersected  by  the 
most  beautiful  lakes,  so  that  from  a  hill  a  few  miles  distant 
eleven  can  be  counted  in  sight,  while  more  than  double  that 
number  can  be  found  in  a  circle  of  twelve  miles.  They  are  of 
various  sizes,  the  largest  being  about  two  miles  in  length — some 
dotted  with  islands — the  water  perfectly  clear,  and  the  shore 
generally  a  high  bluff,  rising  many  feet  above  the  surface.  Two 
of  these,  which  approach  within  a  hundred  feet  of  each  other, 
and  are  united  by  a  little  brook,  have  retained  the  Indian  name 
of  Nashotah,  or  Twin  Lakes.  On  the  bank  of  one  of  them, 
where  the  shore  rises  fifty  feet  above  the  water,  and  then  spreads 
out  into  a  level  plateau,  covered  with  oak-trees  standing  in 
clumps  (an  oak  opening),  are  the  mission  buildings."  Across  this 
lake  and  on  a  small  prairie  are  remarkable  Indian  mounds, 
twelve  feet  high.  One  represents  a  tortoise,  another  a  serpent, 
another  a  bear.  Large  trees  grow  on  some  of  them,  showing 
great  age. 

In  1847,  when  ^ip  wrote,  the  institution  had  grown  from  the 
one-story  log-house,  described  in  my  Reminiscences  of  Bishop 
Wadhams,  to  eight  or  ten  low  wooden  buildings,  and  he  tells 
us  that  "  The  view  from  this  spot  is  probably  one  of  the  most 
enchanting  that  the  world  can  furnish." 

Breck,  formerly  at  St.  Paul's  College,  Flushing,  L.  I.,  had 
been  a  pupil  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Muhlenberg,  whose  beautiful 
church  on  the  corner  of  Twentieth  Street  and  Fifth  Avenue, 
New  York  City,  was  building  in  1843,  ^"<^  eagerly  watched  by 
us  seminarians.  We  looked  upon  the  worthy  doctor  as  neither 
low  nor  high  nor  dry,  but  as  a  true  Catholic  in  our  romantic 
sense  of  the  word.  He  was  particularly  a  favorite  among  stu- 
dents of  the  ritualistic  type.  He  was  admired  then  as  a  poet, 
with  a  keen  taste  for  church  architecture,  author  of  the  beauti 
ful  hymn,  "  I    would  not    live    alway,"    now    known    also    as  the 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  109 

founder  of  St.  Luke's  Hospital,  under  the  care  of  Episcopalian 
nuns.  The  Paulists  in  Fifty-ninth  Street  have  a  beautiful  cruci- 
fixion by  Guido,  as  a  testimonial  of  gratitude  to  Father  Deshon 
from  Dr.  Muhlenberg,  for  helping  to  guard  his  hospital  during 
the  draft  riot  in  1863. 

Muhlenberg  was  visiting  Break's  institute  when  Kip  was 
there.  At  that  time  the  washing  of  the  institution  was  done  by 
students  for  poverty's  sake.  They  had  also  a  baptistery  there  ; 
i.  e.,  "  a  flight  of  steps  leading  into  the  water  at  a  convenient 
depth  for  immersion,  where  a  platform  has  been  placed  on  the 
bottom."  Bishop  Kip  gives  as  a  reason  for  this,  that  many  of 
the  settlers  around  were  Baptists  ;  but  from  what  I  know  of 
Breck,  and  that  strong  yearning  existing  then  as  now  among 
Anglicans  for  some  show  of  union  with  those  happy  Oriental 
Greek  churches  which  practise  immersion,  they  would  have  done 
the  same  thing  if  these  modern  Anabaptists  had  migrated 
further  westward.  Bishop  Kip  gives  us  the  mode  of  immersion 
at  Nashotah,  which,  he  says,  is  different  from  the  way  in  which 
it  is  performed  among  the  Baptists  (i.  e.,  more  genteel),  where 
the  individual  is  immersed  backwards.  Here  he  kneels  in  the 
water,  the  officiating  priest  places  one  hand  behind  his  head, 
and,  taking  him  at  the  same  time  by  the  hand,  bends  him  for- 
ward till  the  immersion  is  complete,  and  then  aids  him  in  rising. 

In  addition  to  the  practice  of  poverty,  celibacy,  and  obedi- 
ence, which,  as  we  have  seen,  Breck  and  Adams  announced  to 
Wadhams  as  requirements  of  their  institute,  the  principle  at- 
tached to  monasticism  since  the  time  of  the  earliest  hermits 
and  cenobites  of  the  desert,  that  labor  must  be  associated  with 
prayer,  was  carried  out  after  some  fashion  at  Nashotah  as  late 
as  Bishop  Kip's  visit.  He  tells  us  that  during  the  summer 
vacation,  which  lasted  from  the  middle  of  June  to  the  middle 
of  November,  the  studies  were  suspended  and  the  students 
labored  eight  hours  a  day.  Many  of  these  were  in  the  harvest- 
field,  where  they  were  seen  by  Kip  at  work.  "  We  found,"  said 
he,  "about  a  dozen  employed  in  getting  in  the  wheat,  on  a 
tract  which  had  been  cleared  and  brought  into  cultivation  since 
the  mission  was  established."  I  find  no  account  of  contempla- 
tive   prayei     as  filling    up  the    hours    not    occupied  by  labor    or 


no  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 


study,  but  a  routine  of  life  is  given  in  which  appear  hours  for 
chapel  service,  with  days  for  receiving  communion,  etc.,  as  in 
ordinary  seminaries  and  colleges. 

This  whole  mission  of  Bishop  Kemper,  with  the  bishop's 
house  and  seminary  at  Nashotah  for  its  centre,  was  the  carry- 
ing out  of  a  scheme  to  draw  Episcopalian  emigration  and  to 
colonize  and  Anglicanize  the  emigrants.  It  much  resembles 
Archbishop  Ireland's  more  recent  colonization  plan  for  Minne- 
sota, and,  like  that  plan,  was  eminently  successful.  The  plan 
of  the  Nashotah  plant  contemplated  at  one  and  the  same  time 
colonization,  missionary  labor,  and  monastic  life.  The  first  two 
parts  of  this  plan  have  succeeded  wonderfully  well.  The  suc- 
cess of  the  last  was  very  short  ;  love  got  into  the  tub  and  the 
bottom  fell  out. 

This  Nashotah  property  was  held  by  the  Rev.  James  Lloyd 
Breck,  in  trust,  for  the  education  of  students  both  theological 
and  academical.  In  1841  they  had  one  student.  This  number 
had  increased  at  the  time  when  Kip  visited  it,  in  1847,  to 
twenty-three  students.  At  that  time  the  members  of  the  mis- 
sion had  seventeen  stations  for  preaching  and  lay  reading,  with- 
in a  circuit  of  thirty  miles.  The  students  acted  as  lay  readers 
and  catechists  among  the  emigrants  of  the  neighborhood.  The 
idea  of  the  three  founders  was  to  establish  an  institution  which 
should  be  essentially  monastic.  The  bishop  humored  this  idea, 
for  Breck  and  his  companions  were  valuable  men,  and,  however 
visionary  their  special  hopes  might  be,  it  would  have  been  a 
dangerous  thing  to  discourage  them.  The  letters  of  Breck  and 
Adams  from  which  we  have  selected  short  extracts,  but  which 
are  given  at  greater  length  in  the  Reminiscences  of  Bishop 
Wadhams,  show  the  eager  anxiety  for  celibacy  and  monastic 
life  which  reigned  in  the  bosoms  of  the  writers.  But  the  aim 
of  Bishop  Kemper  is  better  disclosed  by  his  friend,  Dr.  Kip, 
who  writes  not  only  to  recommend  the  institution  to  the  pa- 
tronage of  Episcopalians  generally,  but  takes  care  to  excuse  and 
explain  away  certain  apparent  tendencies  to  Romanism  which 
hover  about  the  place.     Dr.  Kip  writes : 

"  One  of  the  most  common  charges  against  the  institution 
is,  that    the    doctrine  of    the  celibacy  of  the  clergy  is   inculcated. 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  iii 

We  take,  therefore,  this  opportunity  to  deny  it.  Such  is  not 
the  case.  The  only  foundation  for  the  story  is,  that  a  student 
upon  joining  the  institution  pledges  himself  not  to  form  any 
engagement  with  reference  to  matrimony  during  his  union  with 
it.  The  moment  he  is  ordained  he  is,  of  course,  left  free  to  do 
as  he  pleases.  We  believe  that  there  is  no  one  acquainted  with 
the  state  of  things  in  some  other  seminaries  of  our  church  but 
must  feel  that  it  would  be  better  for  the  students  if  they  were 
under  the  restriction  of  this  rule.  If  there  was  less  visiting, 
there  would  be  more  theology." 

Dr.  Kip's  pleasant  way  of  waving  off  the  charges  and  sus- 
picions against  Nashotah  agree  as  little  with  my  own  remem- 
brances of  the  time  as  they  do  with  Breck's  own  letters.  I  was 
one  of  several  candidates  for  orders  whose  missionary  aspira- 
tions blending  with  the  love  of  solitude  and  a  yearning  for 
the  graces  attached  to  a  spiritual  life  in  the  cloister  drew  me 
strongly  to  Nashotah,  and  I  applied  to  my  father  for  permis- 
sion to  join  that  institution  and  finish  my  studies  there.  But 
the  rumors  above  mentioned  had  reached  his  ears  and  made 
him  hesitate.  He  consulted  Dr.  Horatio  Potter,  afterward 
Bishop  of  New  York,  and  then  rector  of  St.  Peter's  Church  in 
Albany.  Dr.  Potter  advised  him  by  no  means  to  consent  to  it, 
as  Puseyism  reigned  there  in  its  worst  forms.  This  ended  the 
matter  for  me.  Bishop  Kemper  utilized  the  zeal  and  labors  of 
Breck  and  his  Tractarian  friends,  but  all  for  his  own  purposes, 
not  for  theirs.     Breck's  airy  vision  soon  melted  away  like  a  mist. 

Hobart  left  Nashotah  in  its  infancy  to  take  a  wife.  Six  of  its 
early  students,  finding  that  its  monastic  character  was  nothing 
but  a  thin  garment  cautiously  tolerated  by  authority  and  for  a 
present  purpose  only,  broke  away  from  the  delusion  to  unite 
with  the  Catholic  Church.  Three  of  these,  McCurry,  Graves, 
and  Robinson,  visited  me  at  St.  Peter's  Church,  Troy,  in  1859, 
the  time  of  their  emancipation.  McCurry,  by  my  advice,  at- 
tached himself  to  the  diocese  of  Albany,  and  upon  his  ordina- 
tion was  appointed  assistant  priest  in  St.  John's  Church,  in  Al- 
bany City.  A  vacancy  occurring  in  the  church  at  Cooperstown, 
he  was  sent  there  to  supply  the  place  temporarily,  and  died  there. 
He  was  a  most  valuable  and  pious   priest.     Graves  also  took  or- 


112  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

ders  in  the  Catholic  Church,  connecting  himself  with  one  of  the 
Wisconsin  dioceses.  Robinson  was  rector  of  the  Church  of 
the  Holy  Name  of  Jesus,  at  Chicopee,  Mass.,  but  within  the 
last    few    months    he    died. 

Although  John  Henry  Hobart's  connection  with  Nashotah 
was  so  brief,  yet  the  fact  of  his  being  a  graduate  of  the  Chel- 
sea Seminary,  with  a  memory  still  fresh  in  its  halls,  when  I  ar- 
rived there,  as  a  forward  Tractarian,  the  son  of  an  illustrious 
bishop  and  himself  remarkable  for  high  personal  qualifications, 
seems  to  demand  further  notice  in  these  Reminiscences.  I  saw 
him  and  conversed  with  him  only  twice.  The  first  time  was  at 
Saratoga  Springs.  It  must  have  been,  I  think,  in  the  summer 
of  1844.  My  object  was  to  obtain  such  information  as  I  might 
concerning  the  community  and  life  at  Nashotah.  His  answers 
to  my  inquiries  impressed  me  very  much  in  his  favor  as  a  young 
man  of  unusual  intelligence,  honorable  feeling,  and  refined  cour- 
tesy. He  spoke  frankly  of  the  Nashotah  Institute  and  of  his 
former  companions,  Breck  and  Adams.  His  statements  concern- 
ing the  institute  were  always  highly  favorable,  and  of  his  friends 
there  he  spoke  with  much  regard  and  affection„  He  did  not 
attempt  to  make  the  least  defence  of  his  act  in  leaving  them. 

"  You  must  not  expect  me,  Mr.  Walworth,  to  offer  any  ex- 
cuse for  my  action,"  he  said,  "  beyond  my  own  weakness  and 
instability  of  purpose.  My  companions  were  too  noble  and 
spiritual  for  me.  Their  vocation  is  a  higher  one  than  mine,  and 
cheerfully  will  I  recommend  this  community  to  any  young  man 
who  can  keep  pace  with  such  spirits  as  Breck  and  Adams,  and 
make  such  sacrifices  as  they  make.  So  far  as  I  am  concerned 
the  public  will  be  my  judges,  and  will,    no  doubt,  judge  rightly." 

There  was  a  truthfulness  and  dignity  in  this  frank  and  sim- 
ple confession  of  weakness  which,  to  my  mind  at  the  time, 
amounted  to  sublimity.  I  thought  I  saw  in  it  a  generosity 
of  nature  which  made  him  worthy  of  his  distinguished  father 
and  of  his  noble-ipinded  sister,  the  convert-wife  of  Dr.  Levi  Sil- 
liman  Ives,  who  became  more  distinguished  as  a  Catholic  lay- 
man than  he  had  been  as  Protestant  bishop.  He  was  near  kins- 
man, moreover,  to  Mother  Seton,  foundress  of  Emmittsburg, 
the    mother-house    of   the    Sisters  of  Charity  in  this  country;   a 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  113 

kinsman,  too,  of  James  Roosevelt  Bayley,  who  died  Archbishop 
of  Baltimore.  Every  soul  is  precious  in  the  eyes  of  God.  Is  it 
an  ill-directed  sentiment  to  feel  sad  that  a  gifted  young  man, 
so  connected  with  converts  to  the  true  church,  should  have 
died  without  its  pale?  His  death  occurred  in  1889.  He  was 
assistant  minister  of  Trinity  Church,  New  York  City. 

Following  Hobart's  advice,  I  visited  the  Rev.  Mr.  Tucker, 
now  and  for  many  years  past  rector  of  Holy  Cross  Church,  in 
Troy,  well  known  as  founded  through  the  charity  of  Mrs.  War- 
ren of  that  city.  Tucker  was  a  graduate  of  Chelsea,  well  known 
there  to  us  both  and  thoroughly  intimate  with  Breck  and 
Adams.  I  have  no  distinct  recollection  of  my  interview  with 
Tucker  except  that  it  was  a  very  pleasant  one,  and  that  he  was 
well  posted  in  what  concerned  Nashotah,  of  which  institute  he 
was  a  warm  advocate. 

The  next  time  that  I  saw  Hobart  was  also  at  Saratoga 
Springs,  after  I  had  become  a  Catholic.  He  was  not  at  all  sur- 
prised, nor  did  he  express  the  least  regret.  I  myself  should  not 
have  felt  the  least  surprise  at  that  time  had  I  heard  of  his  do- 
ing the  same  thing,  although  in  such  a  case,  having  matrimony 
in  view,  he  would  have  been  obliged,  like  Dr.  Ives,  his  brother- 
in  law,  to  live  as  a  layman. 

Adams  was  a  better  school-master  than  he  was  pioneer  or 
monk.  Breck's  deeper  spirituality  and  greater  energy  were  in 
the  beginning  far  more  valuable  in  drawing  zealous  young  Trac- 
tarians  to  what  promised  to  be  a  life  of  mortification,  devotion, 
and  missionary  enterprise.  Bishop  Kemper  knew  well  how  to 
avail  himself  of  such  qualities  without  letting  his  horse  run 
away  with  him.  As  time  advanced,  however,  students  gathered 
and  emigrants  fell  into  line.  This  brought  into  greater  promi- 
nence and  gave  more  comparative  value  to  the  scholarly  quali- 
ties and  more  sedentary  habits  of  Adams.  The  institute  at 
Nashotah  shaped  itself  more  and  more  to  the  ordinary  wants 
and  ways  of  an  Episcopalian  seminary  and  college,  while  play- 
ing monk  became  more  of  a  nuisance  to  all  interested  parties, 
who  really  cared  nothing  for  monk  or  cowl. 

Adams  soon  took  a  wife.  What  special  circumstances  led  to 
this  I  cannot  tell,  but  it  is  a  fact  of  history  that    Cupid    smiled 


114  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

upon  him  in  the  form  of  his  own  bishop's  daughter.  His  voca- 
tion became  thus  settled.  He  is  still  a  professor  at  the  Nasho- 
tah  Seminary,  his  department  being  that  of  Systematic  Divinity. 

Mr.  E.  C.  Arnold,  a  convert,  now  public  librarian  at  Taun- 
ton, Mass.,  and  once  a  bookseller  at  Milwaukee,  was  quite  fa- 
miliar with  Nashotah  in  its  early  years.  I  have  from  him  the 
following  account  of  Breck's  subsequent  career: 

*'  Adams's  marriage  to  Bishop  Kemper's  daughter  was  a  great 
grief  to  Breck,  and  as  he  felt  unable  to  cope  with  the  '  married 
influence,'  he  eventually  turned  his  back  on  Nashotah  and 
started  a  similar  institution  at  Faribault,  Minn.  While  there 
he  paid  Bishop  Grace  several  visits,  and  we  sent  him  books  from 
Milwaukee  ;  but  ere  long  he  got  entangled  matrimonially  himself, 
and  that  put  an  end  to  his  earlier  dreams." 

His  last  station  was  in  California.  He  died  rector  of  St. 
Paul's  Church,  Benicia,  in  that  State.  One  monument  to  the 
busy  life  of  this  remarkable  man  is  found  in  the  "  Breck 
Mission   and    Farm   School,"  Wilder,    Minnesota. 

The  only  other  attempt  to  introduce  monasticism  into  the 
Episcopalian  Church  in  the  United  States  in  which  I  took  part, 
or  of  which  I  have  any  personal  recollections,  was  a  scheme 
which  originated  also  at  the  General  Seminary  in  the  City  of 
New  York.  The  central  figure  in  this  scheme  was  Edgar  P. 
Wadhams,  a  graduate  of  the  class  of  1843,  who  received  dea- 
con's orders  immediately  after  graduation  and  was  put  in  charge 
of  the  whole  of  Essex  County.  I  suppose  I  must  name  myself 
as  the  second  figure  in  the  plan,  since  I  was  the  only  one  of 
the  cenobites  that  actually  located  himself  at  the  proposed 
scene  of  operations,  which  was  the  village  of  Wadhams'  Mills, 
in  the  old  homestead  of  that  family.  Our  actual  community 
consisted  of  two.  Deacon  Wadhams  and  myself.  We  occupied 
the  second  story  of  the  house.  Widow  Wadhams  presiding  over 
the  lower  story.  Our  flat  (the  convent  which  we  dedicated  to 
St.  Mary)  comprised  two  large  rooms  with  hall  and  stairway. 
The  room  at  the  south  end  was  the  convent  kitchen,  with  a 
bed  for  my  accommodation.  The  room  at  the  north  end,  a 
very  large  one,  was  at  once  the  larder,  general  store-room,  lum- 
ber   loft,  and    carpenter's    working   shop.     Wadhams    occupied  a 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 


115 


small  bed-chamber  on  the    first    floor,  there    being   no  place   for 
him  in   the    cloister    above.     Our  chapel,    to  which    we    had    no 


Edgar  P.  Wadhams  as  Bishop  of  Ogdensburg. 

claim    except    on    Sundays,    was    the    village    school-house.     On 
Christmas    we    celebrated    Episcopalian    Mass    in    Widow    Wad- 


Ii6  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

hams'  parlor  which  was  richly  decorated  for  the  occasion  with 
evergreens.  We  had  no  other  common  oratory  than  the  com- 
munity kitchen ;  the  stove,  cupboard,  dining-table,  bed,  and 
washstand  harmonizing  sufficiently  well  with  our  simple  devo- 
tions. For  brevity's  sake  I  may  call  this  our  Chapter-House. 
Here  also  Wadhams  and  I  had  our  spiritual  readings  when  we 
two  were  alone.  Sometimes,  however,  to  please  Widow  Wad- 
hams,  this  exercise  was  held  in  her  kitchen,  for  she  loved  to 
assist  at  these  readings  when  she  could,  especially  when  we  read 
from  the  Lives  of  the  Saints,  Alban  Butler's  simple  "Lives" 
delighted  her  especially.  On  these  occasions  two  of  her  grand- 
sons, children  of  William  Wadhams,  a  Presbyterian  deacon,  as- 
sisted, for  they  lodged  and  boarded  with  their  grandmother. 
The  kitchen-girl  also  could  not  always  be  absent,  unless  she 
stayed  outdoors.  A  stranger  could  not  easily  have  distinguished, 
even  in  the  premises  outside  the  house,  between  the  cloister 
and  the  world.  The  cow-house  was  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  convent,  for  Prior  Wadhams  owned  the  cow,  and  I  kept 
her  apartments  clean  for  her  "with  my  spade  and  shovel";  and 
I  kept  the  cow.  Prior  Wadhams  also  owned  a  pony  named 
Beni,  who  was  lodged  on  the  other  side  of  the  highway,  in  the 
stable  of  Deacon  William  Wadhams.  All  the  other  out  build- 
ings belonged  to  Mrs.  Wadhams,  with  all  the  pigs,  hens,  ducks, 
geese,  turkeys,  and  doves  that  occupied  or  frequented  them. 

This  location  of  our  monastery  was  only  a  temporary  one. 
About  a  mile  distant  to  the  northward  lay  a  beautiful  tract  of 
land,  where  a  large  creek,  after  tumbling  down  from  among  the 
Adirondack  Mountains,  made  a  wide  sweep  around  an  extensive 
farm  of  meadow  backed  by  woodland,  then  headed  directly  for 
the  little  village  or  corners  named  Wadhams'  Mills,  passing 
close  behind  our  house,  to  leap  over  a  fine  fall  and  supply 
water  for  the  village  mill.  Our  future  hopes  were  all  centred 
in  the  farm  just  mentioned.  It  was  the  hereditary  property  of 
our  prior.  On  it  we  saw  in  the  dim  future  a  noble  monastic 
pile  giving  shelter  and  seclusion  to  a  cowled  community  of  con- 
templatives,  missionaries,  scholars,  and  a  thousand  other  vision- 
ary things  of  religious  dream-land.  This  vision  melted  away  in 
the  next  spring  time,  leaving   nothing    but  a  log  hut  that    never 


Gliwpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  wj 


received  either  community  or  roof.  Our  monastic  pile,  if  it 
still  remains,  is  only  a  pile  of  logs. 

My  memory  recalls  no  fruitful  experiments  among  Episco- 
palians to  found  monastic  communities  of  men.  Religious  com- 
munities of  women  have  had  better  success.  The  reader  will 
remember  that  when  Dr.  Kip  visited  Nashotah  he  there  met 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Muhlenberg  on  a  similar  visit.  It  may  be  that 
the  latter  had  already  at  that  time  some  enthusiastic  predilec- 
tion for  monasticism.  The  first  introduction  of  religious  sister- 
hoods amongst  Episcopalians  in  this  country  that  I  remember 
was  when  Dr.  Muhlenberg,  of  New  York,  put  St.  Luke's  Hospi- 
tal under  charge  of  such  women.  Similar  sisterhoods  are  now 
not  at  all  unfrequent.  A  boarding-school  for  young  ladies, 
named  Kemper  Hall,  now  exists  at  Kenosha,  Wisconsin,  under 
charge  of  ladies  of  this  kind.  They  are  called  the  Sisters  of 
St.  Mary.  Other  sisters  bearing  the  same  title  are  found  at 
Memphis,  Tenn. ;  Peekskill,  N.  Y.  ;  Islip,  L.  I.  ;  Rockaway  Beach, 
and  at  six  different  locations  in  New  York  City.  These  seem 
to  belong  to  one  general  order,  the  time  of  first  foundation 
reaching  back  as  far  as  1865.  Besides  these,  other  Episcopalian 
societies  of  religious  ladies  are  to  be  found  bearing  various 
titles,  such  as  the  following :  The  Sisters  of  the  Good  Shep- 
herd, of  the  Holy  Communion,  of  the  Holy  Child  Jesus,  of  St. 
John  the  Evangelist,  of  SS.  Philip  and  James,  All  Saints'  Sis- 
ters of  the  Poor,  Colored  Sisters  of  St.  Mary  and  All  Saints, 
Sisters  of  St.  Martha,  of  the  Holy  Nativity,  of  the  Holy  Name, 
of  St.  Monica.  They  are  located  at  New  York,  Albany,  St. 
Louis,  Brooklyn,  New  Orleans,  Baltimore,  Louisville,  Providence, 
Tyler  in  Texas,  and  Fond  du  Lac,  Wis. 

Some  of  these  are  branches  of  conventual  institutes  of  the 
Church  of  England ;  for  example,  that  of  St.  John  Baptist,  New 
York;  that  of  St.  Margaret,  Boston;  that  of  All  Saints'  Sisters 
of  the  Poor,  Baltimore.  So  far  as  I  know,  and  as  I  believe,  all 
these  sisters  are  considered  as  nuns.  They  wear  some  fashion 
of  religious  habit  and  are  not  easily  to  be  distinguished  at 
sight  from  Catholic  sisters,  except  that  their  eyes  are  not  much 
cloistered,  and  that  their  gait  and  walk  have  not  received  any 
apparent    modification    since    they    put    ofT    their    secular    dress. 


Il8  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

The  CJmrch  Almanac  and  Year  Book  for  i8g2  exhibits  an  exist- 
ing and  recognized  order  of  deaconesses.  What  they  are  I 
cannot  tell ;  whether  they  are  nuns  or  not,  nor  when  they  first 
became  a  feature  of  Episcopalianism.  They  are  specially  edu- 
cated to  their  work,  one  training-school  being  in  New  York 
and  one  in  Philadelphia.  A  still  older  one,  called  the  Church 
Home,  has  existed  in  Mobile  since  1863. 

To  what  extent  the  vows  of  poverty,  chastity,  and  obedi- 
ence are  enjoined  amongst  these  Protestant  nuns  is  more  than 
I  can  tell.  I  remember,  however,  that  when  Dr.  Muhlenberg 
introduced  his  Sisters  into  St.  Luke's  Hospital  it  was  said  that 
their  vocation  was  cemented  by  vows,  and  that  the  vow  of 
chastity  consisted  in  an  obligation  to  remain  single  until  it 
should  please  God  to  call  them  to  some  other  state  of  life. 
One  thing  should  be  set  down  as  undoubted  ;  that  no  part  of 
all  this  tendency  toward  the  monastic  life  is  an  outcrop  of 
Protestantism,  but  must  be  attributed  to  the  Tractarian  move- 
ment. 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  119 


CHAPTER   IX. 

AFTER  EFFECTS  OF  CAREY'S  ORDINATION. — WAR  ON  BISHOP  ON- 
DERDONK  IN  DIOCESAN  CONVENTION. — THE  BISHOP'S  MAS- 
TERLY DEFENCE. — JUDGE  DUER'S  SPEECH. — A  CHANGE  OF 
TACTICS. — THE  BISHOP'S  PRIVATE  CHARACTER  ASSAILED. — 
HIS   TRIAL  AND   CONDEMNATION. 

IN  these  reminiscences  hitherto  my  memory  has  been  occupied 
with  the  rise  and  growth,  in  the  United  States,  of  Tractari- 
anism,  or  what  is  more  popularly  known  as  the  Oxford  Move- 
ment, We  had,  in  truth,  a  little  Oxford  on  this  side  of  the 
Atlantic.  It  was  located  in  a  little  suburban  appendix  to  New 
York  City,  known  as  Chelsea.  Its  name  was  the  General  Theo- 
logical Seminary  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church. 

The  Oxford  Movement  in  the  United  States  came  in  due 
course  of  time  and  very  naturally  to  a  convulsive  conflict,  a  close 
grapple  of  controversial  contention  and  angry  feeling  which  agi- 
tated  Anglicanism  throughout  the  whole  country.  The  imme- 
diate occasion  of  this  was  the  examination  and  ordination  of 
Arthur  Carey,  an  account  of  which  has  already  been  given  in 
the  third  and  fourth  chapters  of  these  reminiscences. 

A  very  salient  statement  of  the  causes  which  led  to  this 
struggle  and  of  circumstances  which  aggravated  the  excitement 
was  thus  given,  at  the  time,  in  the  columns  of  the  Quarterly 
Christian  Spectator  for  October,  1843  • 

"  Such  an  occurrence  as  the  ordination  of  Mr.  Carey  with  the 
protest  of  two  eminent  clergymen  against  him,  on  the  ground 
of  his  being  in  effect  a  Roman  Catholic,  became  the  town's 
talk;  and  filled  the  newspapers,  not  only  in  the  City  of  New 
York  but  everywhere  else.  Nor  did  the  news  from  Europe  just 
about  those  days  help  to  divert  the  public  attention  from  these 
matters.  The  astounding  progress  of  O'Connell's  movement  for 
giving   to    Popery    its    natural   ascendency   in    Ireland ;   the    ad- 


I20 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 


mired  secession  of  one-half  of  the  Established  Church  in  Scot- 
land ;  the  universal  agitation  in  England  about  Tractarianism, 
together  with  the  University  censure  of  Dr.  Pusey  himself  at 
Oxford,  gave  to  an  ecclesiastico-religious  question  of  this  kind 
a  new  and  surprising  power  of  interesting  the  whole  people." 

It  was  impossible  that    so    fierce  a  conflict  could  go  on  long 
without  a  break-up  of  Tractarianism,  such  as  it  was,  for  in  point 

of     numbers     Tractarians   were 


by  far  the  weaker  party.  It 
is  also  impossible  to  describe 
this  break-up  without  giving 
some  account  of  the  trial  and 
condemnation  of  Dr.  Benjamin 
T.  Onderdonk,  President  of 
the  Seminary  and  Bishop  of 
New  York.  To  this  we  devote 
the  present  chapter. 

The  ordination  of  Carey 
made  Bishop  Onderdonk  the 
central  point  of  a  violent  storm. 
The  bishop  could  not  properly 
be  called  a  Tractarian,  he  was 
rather  a  High-churchman  ;  but 
believing  the  Anglican  Church 
to  have  been  established  on  a 
compromise  in  matters  of  doc- 
trine, he  was  willing  to  give 
that  compromise  its  largest 
latitude.  This  made  him  a 
great  protector  of  Tractarians, 
whether  clergymen  or  seminarians  looking  forward  to  ordina- 
tion. He  was  no  great  favorite  at  our  seminary,  but  all  the  Trac- 
tarian students  in  the  institution  recognized  him  as  a  protector. 
His  ordination  of  Carey  now  made  him  a  target.  Every 
evangelical  zealot,  whether  bishop,  priest,  or  layman,  entered 
upon  a  war  the  success  of  which  seemed  to  depend  necessarily 
upon  the  downfall  of  the  bishop.  As  for  him,  his  Dutch  blood 
was    fully  aroused,  and    until   his   character  was    undermined  he 


Dr.  Benjamin  T.  Onderdonk. 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  121 


stood  the  shock  of  battle  like  a  veritable  Van  Tromp.  The  war 
against  him  was  not  carried  on  merely  in  social  circles  and  in 
the  columns  of  the  press,  and  in  multitudinous  pamphlets  ar- 
raigning his  action  in  the  ordination  of  Carey ;  it  broke  out 
openly  and  vigorously  in  the  first  convention  of  his  diocese  that 
met  after  the  ordination.  This  was  in  the  latter  part  of  Sep- 
tember, of  the  same  year,  at  St.  Paul's  Chapel  in  New  York 
City.  It  was  the  largest  gathering  of  delegates  in  convention 
since  the  formation  of  Western  New  York  into  a  separate  dio- 
cese in  1838. 

On  September  28,  1843,  Judge  Oakley,  chief-justice  of  the 
Superior  Court,  opened  fire  upon  the  bishop  in  full  convocation 
by  the  introduction  of  two  resolutions  in  themselves  not  at  all 
unreasonable,  but  in  view  of  all  the  circumstances  quite  out  of 
season  if  the  end  which  he  proposed  to  himself  was  the  resto- 
ration of  peace. 

The  first  resolution  was  that  the  delegates  from  New  York 
to  the  next  general  convention  should  be  instructed  to  procure 
such  an  authoritative  interpretation  of  the  rubrics  as  should 
settle  the  question  whether  clergymen  have  the  same  right  as  lay- 
men to  object  to  a  candidate  in  response  to  the  call  of  the 
bishop  at  the  ordination  ceremony. 

The  second  resolution  looked  forward  to  the  procuring  of  a 
canon  providing  that  upon  the  application  of  two  presbyters  ob- 
jecting to  the  fitness  of  a  candidate,  a  trial  shall  be  had  with 
notice  of  time  and  place,  so  that  the  two  objectors  may  be 
present,  and  that  the  answers  to  all  questions  put  to  the  can- 
didate shall  be  placed  on  record. 

These  propositions  seem  innocent  enough.  We  must  con- 
sider, however,  the  time  and  circumstances  which  called  them 
forth,  all  the  heated  discussions  to  which  Tractarianism  had 
given  rise  both  in  England  and  America,  the  suspicions  so  rife 
in  regard  to  the  orthodoxy  of  the  General  Seminary,  the  exami- 
nation of  Carey  so  widely  published  with  all  its  particulars,  and 
above  all,  the  startling  protests  of  Drs.  Smith  and  Anthon  at 
his  ordination  so  summarily  and  indignantly  disposed  of  by 
the  bishop.  It  then  becomes  evident  that  the  introduction  of 
these    resolutions    into    the  New    York    convention    was  simply 


122 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 


the    casting  of    an    additional    firebrand    into  the  Anglican  com- 
munion. 

The  attack  was  foreseen  by  Bishop  Onderdonk.  His  opening 
address  and  the  whole  result  of  the  convention  show  how  well 
prepared  he  was  to  meet  it. 

The  principal  speaker  in  behalf  of  the  resolutions  was  John 
Duer,    Esq.,    a  lay    delegate    from    Dr.    Anthon's    parish   of    St. 

Mark's,  a  zealous  Low-church- 
man, and  one  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished jurists  of  the  country. 
He  was  surrounded  and  sup- 
ported by  many  prominent  lay- 
men, some  of  them  lawyers  like 
himself.  His  manner  in  speak- 
ing is  thus  described  by  a  friend 
in  an  article  published  in  the 
New  York  American  of  October 

2,    1843: 

"  We  have  rarely  seen  an 
instance  where  the  sense  of  the 
holy  place  in  which  he  stood 
and  of  the  sacred  nature  of  the 
topics  he  was  discussing  seem- 
ed more  thoroughly  to  pervade 
the  mind  of  the  speaker,  and 
to  impart  to  him  the  mastery 
over  the  impulses  with  which 
he  seemed  struggling  to  a  more 
impassioned  style  and  burning 
thoughts." 

It  is  difficult  to  pass  without  some  notice  the  utterances  of 
so  strong  a  man  on  an"  occasion  so  memorable.  A  pamphlet 
published  at  the  time  by  Harper  &  Brothers,  and  preserved  in 
the  State  Library,  enables  us  to  refresh  our  dim  recollections  of 
Judge  Duer's  argument.  We  only  give  a  few  passages,  select- 
ing such  as  are  most  likely  to  interest  our  readers.  In  the 
course  of  his  speech,  after  having  waived  all  personal  applica- 
tion   of    any  of   his  remarks   to    the    chair  (Bishop    Onderdonk), 


Judge  John  Duer. 


Gliuipses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  123 

and  making  the  supposition  that  a  bishop  might  arise  whose 
own  mind  should  be  deeply  infected  with  the  very  errors  against 
which,  as  a  church,  Episcopalians  had  protested,  he  said  : 

"  I  have  already  spoken  of  testimonials  and  preparatory 
examinations.  The  only  apparent  security  is  the  required  sub- 
scription of  the  candidates  to  our  Articles  of  Religion,  but 
what  security  is  that  subscription  against  those  who  believe 
in  the  innocence  of  mental  reservation  ?  What  security 
against  those  who  have  I  een  taught  to  interpret  the  Articles 
in  a  sense  that  robs  them  wholly  of  their  Protestant  char- 
acter, and  renders  them  easy  to  be  reconciled  with  the  most 
obnoxious  doctrines  and  practices  of  Rome  ?  Under  such 
a  bishop  there  would  be  no  diflEiculty  in  finding  candidates 
of  the  necessary  pliability  of  conscience.  Rome  herself, 
acting  upon  the  system  that  in  other  countries  she  is  known 
to  have  pursued,  would  supply  them.  She  would  send  her 
own  emissaries  into  your  church,  and  not  only  permit  but 
command  them  to  become  its  ministers.  Far  from  considering 
their  subscription  to  your  articles  as  a  crime,  she  would  en- 
courage and  reward  it  as  an  act  of  pious  obedience  :  the  end 
to  be  obtained  would  sanctify  the  means.  In  the  present  state 
of  the  church,  viewing  the  actual  progress  of  certain  doctrines, 
and  the  multitude  and  zeal  of  those  who  have  embraced  them 
— remembering  the  caution  with  which  these  doctrines  were  first 
promulgated  and  the  lengths  to  which  their  authors  have  now 
boldly  advanced,  it  cannot  be  said  with  truth  that  the  dangers 
of  which  I  have  spoken  are  so  remote  and  improbable  that  it 
would  be  useless  to  adopt  measures  of  precaution.  A  Romanist 
bishop  in  a  Protestant  church  is  no  longer  an  improbable  event." 

A  little  later  the  speaker  refers  to  Tractarianism,  and  to  the 
New  York  Churchman  in  particular,  as  follows  : 

"  The  doctrines  of  the  Tractarian  writers  of  Oxford  have, 
in  certain  quarters,  been  openly  embraced — have  been  propa- 
gated in  the  diocese  with  unusual  diligence  and  zeal,  and  in  a 
journal  which  claims  to  be  the  legitimate  organ  of  the  church, 
have  not  only  been  avowed  in  their  full  extent,  but  have  been 
defended  and  maintained  with  signal  ability,  skill,  and  learning." 
He  adds  :   "  They  have  become  a  favorite    study    of    the   youth 


124  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Angliean  Seviimxry. 

in  our  seminary,  the  future  candidates  for  orders,  and  by  many 
of  the  younger  clergy  who  have  issued  from  the  seminary  they 
have  been  passionately  embraced,  and  are  now  zealously  propa- 
gated." 

The  distinguished  orator  took  occasion  to  champion  the 
rights  of  the  laity,  to  which,  in  his  view,  Tractarianism  was 
especially  hostile.  "If  you  would  lead  the  laity,"  he  said,  ad- 
dressing the  chairman,  "the  laity  must  know  where  you  are 
going.  If  you  would  govern  their  conduct,  you  must  gain  their 
confidence  by  convincing  their  reason.  If  you  claim  from  them 
an  implicit  faith,  the  claim  is  sure  to  be  rejected,  and  those 
who,  properly  instructed,  would  have  been  glad  to  follow,  will 
be  prompt  to  abandon  you."  Then,  bringing  his  argument  to 
bear  specifically  upon  the  resolutions,  he  concludes:  "In  one 
sense  the  spiritual  powers  of  the  bishop  to  ordain  cannot  be 
limited  ;  he  may  ordain  whom  he  pleases,  but  his  power  to  or- 
dain those  who  are  to  be  received  as  ministers  of  the  church  is 
necessarily  subject  to  such  regulations  as  the  church  may 
impose.  To  deny  this  is  to  subvert  the  whole  constitution  of 
the  church — is  to  demolish  the  edifice,  in  order  to  build  the 
prerogative  of  the  bishop  upon  its  ruins.  It  is  to  make  each 
bishop  the  pope  of  his  diocese." 

A  remarkable  feature  of  this  memorable  convention  is  the 
careful  courtesy  with  which  the  chief  combatants  treated  each 
other.  It  could  scarcely  be  otherwise,  for  they  were  all  gentle- 
men and  bred  to  understand  the  laws  of  courtesy.  Their  ex- 
pressions of  mutual  esteem,  however,  were  simply  formal.  Like 
pugilists  before  a  combat,  they  shook  hands,  well  knowing  the 
fearful  encounter  which  was  to  follow. 

The  bishop  opened  the  synod  with  great  dignity  and  sol- 
emnity, not  affecting  to  conceal  his  consciousness  that  a  storm 
was  brewing  and  that  he  was  prepared  to  meet  it.  His  words, 
however,  were  kind  and  offered  no  provocation  to  attack  unless 
a  manly  defence  of  himself  and  of  the  presbyters  who  had 
acted  with  him  at  Carey's  examination  is  to  be  considered  as  such. 

"  Wicked  attempts,"  he  said,  "  are  making  without  to  rend 
us  asunder  by  jealousies,  and  to  provoke  the  disunion  of  our 
happy  communion.     To  meet  this,  be  we  all  as  one  man — cling- 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Scniiiiary.  125 

ing  to  Christ,  his  cross,  and  his  church,  let  us  resolve  that  we 
will  be  one  in  order,  in  affection,  and  in  all  the  graces  of  the 
Christian  faith." 

In  like  manner  Judge  Duer,  before  closing  his  argument, 
professed  his  desire  for  peace  and  proffered  as  terms  of  peace 
the  acceptance  of  the  hostile  resolutions  for  which  he  con- 
tended. Addressing  himself  to  the  clergy  and  laity  who  had 
already  shown  their  opposition  to  the  resolutions  on  the  day 
previous,  by  seeking  to  have  them  laid  upon  the  table,  he  said  : 

"Will  you  reject  our  overtures  of  peace?  Instead  of  receiv- 
ing, will  you  dash  from  our  hands  the  olive  branch  we  tender? 
We  entreat  you  to  remember  that  if  by  your  votes  these  reso- 
lutions shall  be  rejected,  it  is  upon  you  alone  that  the  responsi- 
bility will  rest  ;  you  and  you  alone  will  be  answerable  to  your 
church  and  to  your  God  for  the  consequences  that  may  follow." 

These  professions  of  a  desire  for  peace  sound  well,  but  were 
necessarily  unavailing.  The  famous  words  so  well  uttered  at 
the  beginning  of  our  American  Revolution  may  readily  be 
applied  to  the  mutual  declarations  of  amity  so  formally  made 
at  this  New  York  convention. 

"  Gentlemen  may  cry  *  Peace !  peace  ! '  but  there  is  no  peace. 
The  war  is  actually  begun."  A  bugle-note  of  war  was  sounded 
when  the  seminary  at  Chelsea  was  first  assailed  and  Carey's 
ordination  objected  to.  Some  miserable  details  excepted,  all 
that  followed  was  inevitable. 

This  Diocesan  Convention  of  1843  was  the  culminating  point 
in  Bishop  Onderdonk's  career.  He  stood  at  that  time  the  fore- 
most bishop  in  an  ecclesiastical  body  comprising  many  distin- 
guished priests  and  prelates.  He  was  in  that  body  the  most  pow- 
erful, courageous,  and  reliable  champion  of  the  High-church  party. 
Although  much  that  occurred  at  that  time  has  faded  from  my 
memory,  the  long  years  have  obliterated  little  of  the  picture 
then  imprinted  of  that  fearless,  ready-witted,  and  sagacious 
man.  He  confronted  his  enemies  in  the  convention  at  every 
point.  They  retired  from  it  at  its  close  beaten  and  baffled. 
And  this  was  not  caused  by  any  insufficiency  on  their  part,  for 
they  included  in  their  number  some  of  the  foremost  men  of 
the  day,  flowers  of   the   clergy  and  pillars  of   the  bar.     The  tri- 


126  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

umph  of  the  evangelical  cause  came  later  and  was  achieved  by 
less  respectable  means. 

To  explain  my  meaning  it  will  be  necessary  to  give  the 
reader  a  sketch  of  the  initiation  and  progress  of  a  movement 
against  Bishop  Onderdonk's  private  character.  This  was  carried 
on  at  first  in  secret,  but  afterwards  was  brought  out  in  the 
form  of  public  charges  preferred  by  his  enemies  and  resulting 
in  his  trial  and  condemnation  by  an  ecclesiastical  tribunal. 

The  first  combined  efforts  of  the  Evangelical  party  of  Angli- 
cans against  Tractarianism  in  America  had  been  directed  against 
the  General  Seminary  in  Chelsea,  and  only  included  Bishop  On- 
derdonk  as  president  and  professor  of  that  seminary,  and  the 
best-known  defender  of  the  rights  of  Tractarians  to  hold  their 
principles  in  the  Anglican  fold,  to  exercise  their  ministry  in  that 
fold,  and  to  use  the  advantages  of  the  seminary. 

The  institution  was  governed  by  an  ample  Board  of  Trus- 
tees, to  which  all  the  bishops  belonged  ex  officio.  The  attack  be- 
gan during  a  meeting  of  the  board  assembled  at  the  seminary 
for  the  June  examinations  of  1843.  Drs.  Smith  and  Anthon 
proposed  to  the  trustees  that  the  examining  committee  should 
direct  their  attention  especially  to  points  involving  Tractarianism, 
in  order  to  draw  out  any  bias  of  the  students  in  this  direction. 
The  trustees  declined  to  do  this  on  the  ground  that  the  busi- 
ness of  the  committee  was  not  to  examine,  but  to  attend  up- 
on the  examination  as  conducted  by  the  professors  and  to  re- 
port the  result.  Drs.  Smith  and  Anthon  were,  however,  added 
to  the  examining  committee,  and  it  was  suggested  to  them  that 
a  request  to  the  professors  to  examine  any  particular  student 
or  students  with  special  distinctness  on  any  particular  topics, 
would  undoubtedly  accomplish  their  object.  This  course,  we 
are  informed,  was  taken  ;  but  nothing  appears  to  have  been 
elicited  by  this  means  either  to  prove  or  disprove  the  suspicions 
which  had  been  excited.  Drs.  Smith  and  Anthon  were  not  sat- 
isfied with  the  manner  in  which  the  resolutions  moved  by  them 
had  been  disposed  of.  Still  less  were  they  satisfied  the  next 
day,  when  a  third  resolution,  requesting  that  the  sermons  which 
the  members  of  the  senior  class  had  handed  to  the  professor 
for    inspection  might    be  brought  to  the   committee,  shared    the 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  av  Anglican  Seminary.  127 

fate  of  its  predecessors  and  was  laid  to  sleep  with  them.  (See 
Quarterly  Christiaii  Spectator  for  October,   1843.) 

This  direct  attempt  of  the  Evangelical  or  Low-church  party 
to  purge  the  seminary  of  tendencies  Romeward  was  soon  dis- 
continued for  a  less  direct  but  more  effectual  method  of  v/ar- 
fare.  Bishop  Onderdonk,  as  we  have  said,  stood  foremost  as 
the  protector  of  Tractarians.  He  was  fearless  and  powerful. 
To  prostrate  him  would  leave  the  cause  he  favored  demoralized 
and  without  a  head.  There  were  existing  circumstances  which 
seemed  to  pave  a  way  to  effect  his  ruin,  by  assailing  his  char- 
acter. 

The  first  suspicions  that  the  bishop's  private  life  was  open 
to  attack  on  its  moral  side  began  to  circulate  about  the  time 
that  I  first  came  to  the  seminary,  namely,  in  1842.  This  ap- 
pears by  the  testimony  of  the  Rev.  Paul  Trapier,  the  record  of 
which  may  be  found  in  a  pamphlet  published  by  that  gentle- 
man in  1845,  directly  after  the  Onderdonk  trial.  I  do  not 
think  the  students  of  the  seminary  knew  anything  of  such  ru- 
mors until  they  were  made  public  by  the  action  of  his  prose- 
cutors. 

Mr.  Trapier  tells  us  that  these  rumors  were  well  known 
among  the  presbyters  of  South  Carolina  gathered  in  convention 
in  February,  1844.  Mr.  Trapier  himself,  who  was  prominent 
among  these,  was  also  a  trustee  of  the  General  Seminary  at 
Chelsea,  New  York,  and  an  active  Evangelical.  He  is  well  known 
to  all  who  remember  these  sad  transactions  as  the  most  active, 
untiring,  and  unrelenting  of  the  bishop's  adversaries.  Three 
other  presbyters  are  mentioned  in  his  pamphlet  as  associated 
with  him  in  bringing  to  light  the  evidence  of  misconduct  relied 
upon  by  the  presenting  and  prosecuting  bishops.  Two  of  these 
presbyters  I  knew  personally.  One  of  them.  Mason  Gallagher, 
was  with  me  at  the  seminary  during  my  first  year,  and  was  at 
that  time  a  candidate  for  orders  from  Western  New  York. 
Gallagher  is  still  living,  a  minister  of  the  Reformed  Episcopa- 
lians. Another  was  the  Rev.  James  C.  Richmond,  already  men- 
tioned in  our  sixth  chapter  and  bearing,  as  there  stated,  the 
sobriquet  of  "  Crazy  Richmond." 

The  convention  of  the  South  Carolina  Diocese,  in  February, 


128  Glivipscs  of  Life  in  ajt  Anglican  Seminary, 

1844,  joined  in  the  attempt  already  referred  to  by  passing  a  re- 
solution to  inquire  into  the  state  of  the  General  Seminary. 
Rumors  were  already  rife,  as  we  have  said,  against  the  personal 
character  of  the  Bishop  of  New  York,  but  were  not  publicly  in- 
troduced into  the  proceedings  of  this  convention.  They  had 
their  influence,  however,  upon  these  proceedings,  as  Mr.  Tra- 
pier  informs  us,  and  helped  to  secure  a  majority  in  favor  of  the 
action  there  taken.     He  says: 

"  My  conviction  is  that  though  the  alarm  was  more  extensive 
on  the  subject  of  Tractarianism,  yet  there  could  not  have  been 
the  majority  requisite  for  any  action  of  the  convention  had  not 
others  of  its  members  been  uneasy  about  the  moral  influence 
of  the  Right  Reverend  Professor.  As  it  was,  the  two  sets  of  per- 
sons combining,  such  majority  was  secured." 

Mr.  Trapier  himself  tells  us  that  he  was  not  very  apprehen- 
sive of  Tractarianism  infecting  the  seminary,  and  that  he  was 
not  much  disposed  on  its  account  to  carry  out — any  further  than 
duty  might  demand — the  resolution  of  his  convention.  The  ru- 
mors concerning  the  moral  misconduct  of  Bishop  Onderdonk 
were,  in  his  view,  more  serious  as  they  were  rapidly  spreading 
among  the  laity.  He  arrived  at  the  General  Seminary  for  the 
meeting  of  the  Board  in  June,  1S44.,  with  a  determination  rather 
to  make  a  special  investigation  into  these  private  rumors.  He 
returned  home,  so  he  tells  us,  without  any  success.  No  one 
could  be  found  to  stand  to  his  assertions,  none  could  allow  the 
seal  of  confidence  to  be  broken,  and  yet  many  were  whispering. 

At  the  next  General  Convention  of  the  Church,  which  met 
at  Philadelphia,  and  which  Trapier  attended,  he  was  seemingly 
no  nearer  to  his  purpose  than  before.  But  one  day,  during  the 
sessions  of  this  convention,  he  was  in  the  yard  of  St.  Andrew's 
Church  when  he  was  informed  by  Mr.  Gallagher  that  affidavits 
could  be  procured.  The  two  resolved  to  consult  Mr.  Memmin- 
ger,  a  lay  deputy  from  South  Carolina,  and  found  that  he  was 
already  better  posted  than  themselves,  and  intended  to  bring 
the  matter  out  in  open  convention  on  the  question  of  receiving 
the  report  of  the  trustees  of  the  seminary.  Instead  of  this, 
however,  after  consultation  they  concluded  to  put  the  matter 
into  the  hands  of  the  bishops  only,  and  they  drew  up  and  signed 


Glijiipscs  of  Life  m  an  Anglican  Seminary.  129 

a  memorial  which  was  handed  to  Bishop  Meade.  A  few  days 
after  Bishop  Chase  returned  the  paper  to  Mr.  Trapier,  the  bishops 
having  decided  to  present  the  matter  in  another  shape.  The 
reason  assigned  was  that  the  conduct  of  Onderdonk  as  profes- 
sor could  not  be  inquired  into  without  involving  his  character 
as  bishop.  Nothing  was  publicly  done  at  the  meeting  of  this 
General  Convention.  It  is  not  probable  that  anything  effective 
upon  Tractarianism  or  the  General  Seminary  or  Bishop  Onder- 
donk could  have  been  done  in  General  Convention,  so  long  as 
his  private  character  remained  unassailed.  The  evangelicals, 
therefore,  took  the  matter  into  their  own  hands.  A  trial  of 
Bishop  Onderdonk  for  immorality  was  determined  upon.  Bishops 
Meade,  Otey,  and  Elliott  undertook  to  present  the  case,  and 
the  time  was  fixed  upon.  The  bishops  would  not  consent  to 
hunt  up  evidence,  as  one  of  them  expressly  declared  to  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Trapier.  Trapier  tells  us  that  he  thought  this  rather 
hard  on  the  signers  of  the  memorial  ;  for  he  as  one  of  them 
"had  certainly  had  no  expectation  of  being  called  upon  to  do 
more  than  put  the  bishops  as  a  body  into  the  way  of  getting 
at  information  by  calling  before  them  the  clergymen  whose 
names  were  therein  mentioned,"  and  that  he  "  did  not  at  all 
relish  being  transformed,  though  in  a  righteous  cause,  from  the 
sufficiently  odious  position  of  an  informer  into  the  one  yet  more 
so  of  a  prosecutor."  The  bishops,  however,  persisted,  and  Trapier 
and  Memminger  consented  to  the  parts  assigned  them,  Memmin- 
ger  acting  a  lawyer's  part  in  receiving  testimony  and  preparing 
affidavits,  which  work  was  done  in  New  York. 

The  foregoing  facts,  gathered  from  Mr.  Trapier's  pamphlet, 
seem  to  me  important  to  these  reminiscences,  as  they  show  how 
the  immediate  field  of  war  was  transferred  from  the  seminary 
to  more  secret  action  elsewhere,  and  finally  to  the  scenes  of 
the  memorable  trial  of  the  New  York  bishop. 

The  proceedings  of  the  actual  trial  of  Bishop  Onderdonk  were 
all  published,  and  therefore  well  known  to  me  as  well  as  to  the 
entire  public.  Of  this  preliminary  work,  however,  of  hunting  up 
evidence  and  of  urging  witnesses  to  come  forward  I  should 
have  known  nothing  at  the  time  had  I  not  accidentally  become 
acquainted  with  the  Rev.  James  C.  Richmond,  whom  I  have  al- 


130  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

ready  mentioned  as  very  forward  in  the  movement.  He  talked 
freely  of  the  part  which  he  had  taken  in  it. 

There  is  good  evidence  to  show  that  the  bishop  could  have 
conciliated  this  adversary  if  he  had  thought  it  prudent  and 
proper  to  do  so.  This  we  learn  from  Mr.  Richmond  himself, 
in  his  "Reply"  to  the  pamphlet  entitled  "Richmond  in  Ruins." 

The  bishop  is  quoted  as  having  made  the  statement  that 
Mr.  Richmond  had  called  on  him,  and  expressed  a  warm  desire 
to  return  from  Rhode  Island  to  the  diocese  of  New  York,  that 
he  might  be  the  bishop's  friend  and  stand  by  him  in  his  trou- 
bles. This  is  partially  confirmed  by  Richmond  himself.  He 
states  that  he  said  to  Dr.  Onderdonk :  "  Bishop,  are  you  aware 
that  it  is  in  my  power  to  render  you  more  service  than  any 
presbyter?"  The  bishop,  he  tells  us,  instead  of  saying,  "What 
do  you  mean,  sir?"  blushed  and  was  silent. 

One  who  would  have  been  very  insignificant  as  an  active 
ally  was  thus  permanently  made  into  a  most  dangerous  foe.  It 
was  a  repetition  of  the  old  story  of  Paris  and  the  Tendon    Achilles. 

The  court  of  bishops  for  the  trial  of  Onderdonk  convened 
December  10,  1844,  in  the  Sunday  school  building  of  St.  John's 
Chapel,  New  York  Cify. 

Philander  Chase,  Bishop  of  Illinois,  being  senior  bishop,  was 
in  the  chair.  Bishop  Ives  of  North  Carolina,  Bishop  Hopkins 
of  Vermont,  and  twenty  other  bishops  were  present.  Rev.  Bird 
Wilson,  D.D.,  of  the  seminary,  was  unanimously  elected  secre- 
tary, which  office,  be  it  remembered  to  his  great  credit,  he  de- 
clined. Bishop  Whittingham  acted  instead  as  clerk  and  secre- 
tary. Presentment  was  made  by  Bishop  Meade  of  Virginia, 
Bishop  Otey  of  Tennessee,  and  Bishop   Elliott  of  Georgia. 

The  prosecuting  bishops,  as  also  Bishop  Onderdonk,  were 
represented  by  counsel,  eminent  lawyers  of  New  York  City. 
The  presenting  bishops  were  represented  by  Hiram  Ketchum 
and  Girardus  Clarke.  Bishop  Onderdonk  chose  for  his  counsel 
David  B.  Ogden  and  David  Graham. 

The  charge  against  Bishop  Onderdonk,  made  by  the  present- 
ing bishops,  was  that  of  immorality  and  impurity,  nine  separate 
instances  being  specified.  No  attempt  to  commit  any  criminal 
act  was    either    proved    or    allegtd.     The    offences    proved    con- 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Senii)iary.  131 

sisted  rather  of  maudlin  familiarities  indulged  in  by  a  half- 
conscious  man  overheated  with  wine,  and  generally  before  wit- 
nesses the  fact  of  whose  presence  precludes  all  suspicion  of 
criminal  intent  or  any  definite  purpose.  It  was  impossible  for 
the  counsel  of  the  accused  bishop,  or  for  his  friends,  to  make 
any  complete  and  satisfactory  defence  of  his  conduct.  It  was 
easier,  however,  to  palliate  these  offences  and  to  show  that  his 
guilt  was  far  less  than  his  enemies  would  make  it  out  to  be. 
None  of  the  instances  alleged  against  him  had  occurred  within 
two  years  and  a  half  of  the  trial. 

Under  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case  it  seems  strange  that 
such  strong  measures  should  have  been  taken,  and  that  any 
number  of  Episcopalian  bishops  should  have  been  willing  to 
bring  such  scandalous  matter  to  so  public  an  exhibition.  Ladies 
of  high  respectability  and  perfectly  innocent  were  brought  out 
in  open  court  to  testify,  to  their  own  confusion,  and  all  that 
they  said  was  paraded  in  the  public  newspapers.  The  proceed- 
ings of  this  extraordinary  court,  including  the  testimony  of  wit- 
nesses and  the  full  arguments  of  the  counsel,  were  published,  by 
authority  of  the  bishops  themselves,  in  a  pamphlet  of  three  hun- 
dred and  thirty-three  pages,  and  a  copyright  secured.  One 
young  lady  implicated  in  these  disagreeable  matters  absolutely 
refused  to  appear  and  testify.  Her  name,  however,  and  the 
nature  of  the  insults  offered  to  her  all  went  freely  before  the 
public  and  appeared  on  the  record  of  the  proceedings. 

The  court  remained  in  session  during  twenty-four  days, 
i.e.,  from  the  tenth  of  December  to  the  third  of  January  inclu- 
sive. On  that  day  the  judgment  of  the  court  was  publicly  an- 
nounced, in  which  the  respondent  was  declared  guilty  of  six  of 
the  charges  specified  by  a  majority  of  the  court,  consisting  of 
eleven  bishops.  The  verdict  of  guilty  having  thus  been  reached, 
it  became  necessary  for  the  bishops  to  decide  what  the  sentence 
of  the  court  should  be,  namely,  whether  the  punishment  should 
be  deposition,  or  suspension,  or  only  admonition.  The  votes  of 
the  bishops  on  this  question  were  given  by  ballot,  each  bishop 
signing  his  own  name  and  sometimes  also  assigning  on  the  bal- 
lot his  reasons  for  the  mode  of  sentence  which  he  approved. 
There  were    several   ballotings  without    arriving   at    any   conclu- 


132  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

sion.  Several  of  the  bishops  then  changed  their  votes.  Some 
of  them  gave  as  their  reason  for  this,  the  necessity  of  securing 
a  majority  for  some  form  of  censure.  Some  of  Bishop  Onder- 
donk's  friends,  who  voted  at  first  for  a  simple  admonition, 
ended  by  agreeing  to  a  sentence  of  suspension  to  ward  oil  a 
more  serious  censure. 

Suspension  was  the  sentence  finally  arrived  at  and  declared 
by  the  court. 

This  sentence  was  never  removed.  A  Standing  Committee 
was  empowered  to  represent  temporarily  the  ecclesiastical  au- 
thority of  the  diocese.  Finally,  in  November,  1852,  Dr.  Wain- 
wright  was  consecrated  to  take  charge  of  the  see,  with  the  title 
of  provisional  bishop.  This  qualified  title  he  continued  to  bear 
until  the  death  of  Bishop  Onderdonk,  which  took  place  April 
30,  1861. 

The  influence  of  this  downfall  of  Bishop  Onderdonk  upon 
Tractarianism  in  the  United  States,  both  at  the  Seminary  and 
elsewhere,  will  be  presented  and  pictured  to  the  reader  in  chap- 
ters still  to  come. 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Angliean  Seminary.  133 


CHAPTER   X. 

BREAK-UP  AT  THE  SEMINARY.— PROFESSORS  TAKE  ALARM. — JESU- 
ITS IN  DISGUISE. — WAITSON  AND  DONNELLY  DISMISSED. — 
MCVICKAR  WITHDRAWS.— WALWORTH,  MCMASTER,  AND  WAD- 
HAMS   CROSS   OVER   TO   ROME. 

THE  trial  and  degradation  of  Bishop  Onderdonk,  of  New 
York,  was  a  substantial  triumph  for  the  Evangelical  party 
in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  It  effected  in  the  United 
States  in  many  respects  what  the  condemnation  of  Ward  had 
brought  about  in  England,  although  accomplished  by  differ- 
ent means.  In  England  it  was  a  square,  open  fight.  It  was 
made  evident  that  the  Mother  Church  there  would  not  tolerate 
any  further  advance  of  Tractarianism,  and  this  spirit  prevailed 
even  amongst  High-churchmen  of  every  variety  of  color  and 
degree.  The  High-churchmen  in  the  United  States,  however, 
had  not  taken  so  much  alarm.  Hitherto  they  had  resisted  all 
the  efforts  of  evangelicals  to  meddle  with  the  situation  of  things 
at  the  General  Seminary.  They  had  with  great  unanimity  sus- 
tained the  ordination  of  Arthur  Carey,  believing  that  all  the 
leanings  of  Carey  towards  Roman  Catholic  doctrine  and 
customs  were  at  least  things  to  be  tolerated  in  the  same  way 
that  the  leaning  of  evangelicals  towards  the  doctrines  and 
fashions  of  dissenters  found  tolerance. 

So  confident  were  the  High-church  bishops  of  maintaining 
the  toleration  that  they  desired  for  their  own  views  and  for  a 
very  large  latitude  in  those  views,  that  they  ventured  some- 
times to  indulge  in  a  very  humorous  vein  when  dealing  with 
the  alarm  felt  by  the  opposite  party.  This  sportive  mood  dis- 
played itself  sometimes  even  in  their  General  Conventions.  In 
the  convention  held  at  Philadelphia  in  October,  1844,  Bishop 
Chase  presiding,  it  was  proposed  to  send  certain  questions  to  the 
faculty  of  the  Chelsea  General  Seminary  in  order  to  ascertain  if 


1 34  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  A  nglican  Seminary. 

Tractarianism  was  not  propagated  at  that  institution  with  the 
connivance  and  even  with  the  open  aid  of  some  of  its  pro- 
fessors. From  the  autobiography  of  Professor  Turner  (page 
192)  we  learn  that  forty  questions  were  prepared  and  for- 
warded from  the  House  of  Bishops. 

Some  of  these  questions  ran  as  follows  : 

"Are  the  Oxford  tracts  adopted  as  text-books  in  the 
seminary  ?  Are  they  publicly  or  privately  recommended  to  the 
students?  Is  Tract  go  used  as  a  text-book,  or  (so)  recom- 
mended ?  " 

"  Are  the  works  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Pusey,  Messrs.  Newman, 
Keble,  Palmer,  Ward,  and  Massingberd,  or  any  of  them,  used 
as  text  books,  or  publicly  or  privately  recommended  in  the 
seminary  ?" 

"  Are  the  superstitious  practices  of  the  Romish  Church,  such 
as  the  use  or  worship  of  the  crucifix,  of  images  of  saints,  and 
the  invocation  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  and  other  saints,  adopted, 
or  publicly  or  privately  recommended  in  the  seminary  ?  " 

The  questions  just  given  emanated  unquestionably  from 
spirits  of  the  Low-church  type.  They  are  ridiculous  when  the 
character  of  any  of  the  professors  of  the  seminary  in  my  day 
is  taken  into  account.  How  much  fun  was  to  be  found  among 
the  right  reverend  bishops  convened  at  Philadelphia  may  be 
gathered  from  the  following  questions,  which  were  put  in  to 
serve  as  foils  to  the  mischievous  thrusts  of  the  Low-church  pre- 
lates : 

"  Is  Calvinism,  comprehending  what  are  known  as  the  *  five 
points,'  so  taught  or  recommended  ?  Is  any  one  of  the  five 
points  so  taught  or  recommended?" 

"  Are  the  works  of  Toplady,  of  Thomas  Scott,  and  John 
Newton,  and  Blunt  on  the  Articles,  or  any  of  them,  used  as 
text-books,  or  publicly  or  privately  recommended  to  the 
students  of  the  seminary  ?  " 

There  is  not  so  much  fun  in  some  of  the  other  questions 
which  intimate  at  the  seminary  the  teaching  of  rationalism. 
These  seem  to  be  aimed  chiefly  at  Professor  Turner.  There 
cannot  be  the  slightest  justice  in  them.  Out  of  deep  respect 
for  the  memory  of  that   learned  scholar   and   truly  good  man,  I 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 


135 


deeply  regret  them.  They  belong,  however,  to  the  history  of 
the  time,  they  are  quoted  by  himself  in  his  autobiography;  no 
call  of  delicacy  requires  me  to  leave  them  out. 

"  Is  the    German    system  of  rationalism — that  is,  of  rejecting 
everything   mysterious    in    the    doctrines    and  institutions  of  the 


Professor  Samuel  H.  Turner. 


Gospel,  and  making  human  reason  the  sole  umpire  in  theology, 
adopted  or  so  recommended  in  the  seminary?  Are  German  or 
other  authors  who  support  that  system  adopted  as  text  books, 
or  so  recommended  as  guides  of  theological  opinion?" 

Had    the    opponents    of    Bishop    Onderdonk    left    his  private 
character  unassailed,  they  would  have  gained  nothing  in  their  war 


136  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

against  the  seminary  or  the  stout  old  Bishop  of  New  York, 
who  was  a  champion  too  doughty  for  any  honorable  weapons 
which  they  could  bring  to  bear  upon  him. 

As  it  was,  however,  they  conceived  that  they  had  scored  for 
the  time  being  a  substantial  triumph  in  accomplishing  his  de- 
gradation and  suspension.  Many  churchmen  who  had  stood  by 
the  bishop  in  defence  of  Carey  were  not  prepared  to  justify,  nor 
willing  to  appear  before  the  public  as  justifying,  all  that  was 
proved  against  the  bishop  on  his  trial.  They  felt  humiliated  in 
his  humiliation.  They  felt  demoralized  and  in  a  way  discour- 
aged. They  became  afraid  to  identify  themselves  with  him  in 
anything,  even  in  what  they  believed  to  be  right. 

All  this  made  a  great  difference  with  matters  at  the  semi- 
nary. Our  principal  defender,  the  Bishop  of  New  York,  had 
now  become  defenceless.  Those  professors  there  who  were  either 
friendly  to  us  or  naturally  indisposed  to  listen  to  anything  which 
could  disturb  the  seminary  now  became  timid.  They  would 
gladly  have  shielded  Tractarian  students,  but  dared  not.  Pro- 
fessor Ogilby,  on  the  other  hand,  though  professedly  a  High- 
churchman  and  intolerant  towards  dissenters,  was  in  his  way  a 
good  deal  of  an  Orangeman  and  always  ready  for  a  fight  against 
anything  that  was  really  Catholic.  He  was  now  ready  to  take 
the  lead  in  purifying  the  seminary  of  all  Romanism.  He  soon 
succeeded  in  making  things  lively  at  Chelsea.  He  took  it 
into  his  head  that  there  was  an  organized  party  both  in  the 
seminary  and  outside,  including  clergy,  whose  object  was  to 
Romanize  the  Episcopalian  Church. 

One  day  near  the  close  of  December,  1844,  Professor  Ogilby 
sent  for  one  of  the  students  named  Wattson,  of  the  middle  class, 
and  accused  him  and  several  other  students  of  being  engaged 
in  this  conspiracy.  The  manner  in  which  this  suspicion  arose  I 
never  knew  until  lately.  The  particulars  have  been  furnished 
me  by  Wattson's  own  son,  the  Rev.  Lewis  Wattson,  of  King- 
ston, N.  Y.,  with  permission  to  use  his  communication  freely. 
His  father,  Joseph  N.  Wattson,  one  day  jokingly  said  to  Pres- 
cott,  who  subsequently  became  a  member  of  the  English  Socie- 
ty of  St.  John  the  Evangelist,  known  in  the  Anglican  Church 
as  the  Cowley  Fathers  :    "  Don't    you  know,  Prescott,  that  there 


Glimpse's  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  137 

is  a  number  of  Jesuit  students  in  disguise  here  at  the  General, 
and  that  when  they  have  made  all  the  converts  they  can,  they 
are  going  openly  to  Rome  themselves?  "  Prescott  took  the  joke 
in  dead  earnest  and  reported  it  to  the  dean.  Upon  this  Watt- 
son  was  called  up  before  the  dean.  In  due  course  of  time  he,  and 
another  student  named  Donnelly,  of  the  same  class,  namely,  that 
of  1846,  were  publicly  tried  upon  charges  founded  upon  this 
misconception.  They  were  acquitted  for  want  of  sufificient  proofs, 
but  for  all  that  they  were  quietly  dismissed. 

The  other  students  implicated  by  name  in  this  supposed  plot 
were  Taylor,  Piatt,  McVickar,  and  myself.  Of  these  Piatt  was 
a  graduate  belonging  to  the  diocese  of  Western  New  York  and 
already  in  orders.  Of  Taylor  I  have  no  special  recollections, 
though  he  belonged  to  my  class.  I  find  his  name  included  in 
a  list  of  alleged  conspirators  named  by  McVickar  in  a  letter 
written  at  the  time  to  my  friend  Wadhams,  afterwards  Bishop 
of  Ogdensburg.  This  letter  I  have  given  nearly  in  full  in  my 
Reminiscences  of  Wadhams.  I  myself  was  at  the  time  not  in 
the  seminary,  although  nominally  a  student  still.  I  was  resid- 
ing during  the  latter  part  of  that  autumn,  and  during  the  winter 
and  spring  of  1845,  with  Wadhams  in  the  Adirondacks.  He  was 
in  deacon's  orders,  having  charge,  under  Bishop  Onderdonk,  of 
Essex  County.  His  principal  stations  were  Ticonderoga,  Port 
Henry,  and  Wadhams'  Mills.  I  did  not  belong  to  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  Bishop  Onderdonk,  but  had  received  from  him  a  license  to 
act  as  lay-reader.  This  empowered  me  to  conduct  the  morn- 
ing and  evening  service  as  provided  in  the  Book  of  Common 
Prayer  in  the  absence  of  my  friend,  as  also  to  read  a  discourse 
from  any  book  of  sermons  published  by  some  clergyman  of  the 
church  in  good  standing. 

I  do  not  remember  to  have  read  in  public  anything  except 
from  the  "  Plain  Sermons,"  which  were  discourses  of  simple 
practical  piety  intended  to  be  free  from  points  in  controversy 
and  unobjectionable  to  any  Anglican  congregation. 

McVickar,  mentioned  as  one  of  the  partners  in  this  complot, 
was  a  son  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  McVickar  of  Columbia  College,  one  of 
the  most  learned  of  the  clergy  of  the  New  York  diocese  and  one 
of  those  examiners  of  Arthur  Carey  who  had  decided  in  his  favor. 


138  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

Henry  McVickar  had  his  trial  before  the  faculty  on  the 
seventh  of  January.  A  special  charge  was  made  against  him 
of  recommending  Romish  books,  and  of  believing  in  the  papal 
supremacy.      In     the     letter    above    mentioned    McVickar   states 

that   the    information    came    through    P .      This  may  be  the 

same  student  upon  whom  Wattson  played  his  perilous  joke. 

It  does  not  appear  that  anything  was  made  out  against 
McVickar  at  his  trial,  except  that  the  latitude  of  opinion  which 
he  had  used  was  detrimental  to  the  interests  of  the  seminary. 
His  judges  furthermore  alleged  that  not  McVickar,  but  they 
themselves  were  the  best  judges  of  what  was  thus  detrimental. 
This  claim  McVickar  allowed,  and  said  that  if  they  would  point 
out  how  they  thought  he  had  injured  it,  he  would  avoid  it  for 
the  future.  Afterwards  he  thought  he  had  allowed  too  much, 
for  they  restricted  him  so  closely  that  he  felt  himself  thorough- 
ly hampered  by  his  own  promises  and  preferred  to  leave  the 
institution.  He  retired  to  rooms  in  Columbia  College,  where  he 
prosecuted  in  private  his  preparation  for  orders.  He  did  not 
count,  however,  upon  receiving  orders  at  all.  In  a  letter  to 
Wadhams,  dated  Maundy-Thursday,  1845,  he  says:  "I  am  ex- 
tremely doubtful  whether  I  can  obtain  orders  without  exciting 
new  commotions  and  troubles;  and  if  I  think  so  when  the 
time  comes  I  shall  not  apply  for  them." 

Whitcher  (Benjamin  F.),  belonging  like  myself  to  the  West- 
ern diocese  of  New  York,  was  also  involved  in  these  troubles, 
although,  being  a  graduate  and  in  deacon's  orders,  he  was  no 
longer  responsible  to  the  faculty  of  the  seminary.  On  a  visit 
to  New  York  at  the  time,  he  informed  his  friends  there  that 
he  had  been  summoned  to  appear  before  his  bishop.  All  those 
supposed  to  be  in  this  popish  conspiracy  were  reported  to  their 
several  bishops.  It  is  certain  that  Bishop  De  Lancey  gave  little 
heed  to  the  charges  made  against  myself.  He  never  spoke  to 
me  or  wrote  to  me  on  the  subject.  In  fact  I  never  knew  that 
I  had  been  denounced  to  him  except  through  McVickar's  let- 
ters. For  this  confidence  in  me  I  feel  grateful  to  him  ;  I  have 
never  ceased  to  cherish  his  memory  as  a  loved  and  honored 
friend  of  my  youth. 

Dr.    William    Everett,    now    rector    of   the    Catholic    Church 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglicaji  Seminary.  139 


of  the  Nativity  in  New  York  City,  name  loved  and  revered  by 
all,  then  residing  not  far  from  the  seminary  and  within  easy 
reach  of  the  students,  a  post-graduate  of  the  last  class,  was  as 
much  a  papist  as  any  of  us,  but  I  cannot  find  that  he  was  at 
all  involved  in  this  alleged  conspiracy.  I  suppose  the  reason  to 
be  that,  like  Arthur  Carey,  he  was  considered  too  valuable  a 
man  to  lose  whatever  his  religious  tendencies  might  be. 

One  thing  connected  with  this  complot  is  and,  I  fear,  ever  will 
be  a  profound  mystery.  Who  could  the  concealed  Jesuits  be? 
Among  all  the  faces  at  the  seminary,  still  familiar  to  my  mem- 
ory, I  cannot  recall  one  that  fills  the  picture.  Shall  we  look 
for  them  among  the  faculty  ?  It  could  not  be  Bishop  Onder- 
donk,  the  president.  He  was  bold,  open,  and  outspoken  in 
maintaining  the  right  of  Tractarians  to  toleration  in  the  Angli- 
can fold.  But  boldness  and  frankness  are  not  the  supposed 
characteristics  of  Jesuitism,  and  he  would  never  have  been 
selected  by  that  terrible  society  to  act  in  such  a  capacity. 
Dr.  Turner  could  never  be  suspected  of  acting  in  such  a  role. 
He  was  a  most  devoted  student  of  the  Bible,  and  so  familiar 
with  it  that  he  seemed  to  know  it  all  by  heart ;  besides  this, 
although  not  averse  to  quoting  from  the  early  Fathers  in  the 
interpretation  of  Scripture,  he  leaned  more  to  modern  Anglican 
commentators,  and  especially  to  such  German  authors  as  he 
considered  to  be  reliable  critics  in  matters  of  biblical  text. 
Moreover,  as  dean  of  the  faculty,  he  took  not  a  little  part  in 
this  very  scare  of  which  we  are  speaking.  Professor  Ogilby 
was  a  most  violent  antipopery  man  and  hated  Romanism  more 
even  than  he  scorned  Dissent.  Professor  Haight  could  not  have 
been  one  of  them.  If  so,  he  died  in  the  same  disguise.  Good 
Dr.  Moore  must  be  acquitted  of  any  such  suspicion.  Although 
learned  in  the  Hebrew  and  gifted  as  a  poet,  he  was  as  simple 
and  hearty  a  man  as  Santa  Claus  himself.  Moreover,  while 
teaching  us  Hebrew  from  the  Hebrew  Bible,  he  made  it  an 
invariable  rule,  as  being  a  layman,  never  to  interpret  the  pas- 
sages he  translated.  By  this  rule  he  cast  away,  as  a  concealed 
Jesuit  never  would,  his  best  opportunity  to  poison  our  minds 
with  popery.  The  only  two  left  about  the  institution  who  had 
any   easy  access    to    the    students    were    Professor  Bird  Wilson, 


I40  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

who  taught  theology,  and  a  good  old  man  who  presided  over 
the  coal-bins  and  furnaces.  One  gave  out  doctrines  more  or 
less  new  to  us,  and  the  other  furnished  fuel  and  fire.  If  these 
were  Jesuits,  they  concealed  themselves  most  effectually.  No 
suspicion  ever  fell  upon  either  of  them. 

Among  the  students  themselves  I  can  recall  only  two  that 
can  possibly  lie  open  to  suspicion.  One  had  been  a  Catholic. 
He  did  not  always  give  the  same  reasons  for  having  joined  the 
Episcopalian  Church.  Sometimes  he  alleged  that  it  was  because 
when  he  was  a  Catholic  he  was  not  allowed  to  read  his  Bible. 
This  made  him  very  interesting  to  a  society  of  pious  ladies  who 
maintained  him  at  the  seminary.  He  told  McMaster  once  that 
it  was  because  he  couldn't  stand  the  fasting  imposed  upon  him 
in  the  Catholic  Church.  This  roused  McMaster's  indignation, 
who  confronted  him  with  the  first  reason  given,  insisting  upon 
it  that  he  should  stand  upon  one  story  or  the  other,  and  say 
whether  he  had  come  over  to  Protestantism  for  the  love  of  his 
Bible  or  for  the  sake  of  his  belly. 

The  other  student  had  been  brought  up  in  the  Greek 
Church,  and  consequently  early  imbued  with  all  that  is  held  to 
be  odious  in  Catholic  doctrine  except  the  supremacy  of  the 
Roman  See.  This  one  redeeming  trait  stripped  him  of  horns 
and  hoofs  and  made  him  welcome  to  Protestantism.  Even 
thus,  however,  he  might  be  a  concealed  Jesuit,  but  I  am  not 
aware  that  any  such  suspicion  fell  upon  him. 

The  sensitive  dread  of  Jesuitism  which  prevailed  about 
this  time,  and  had  succeeded  at  last  in  placing  a  time-honored 
institution  under  public  surveillance,  was  not  confined  to  Chelsea, 
nor  to  the  Episcopalian  Church.  It  showed  itself  amongst  other 
Protestant  sects.  A  professor  of  an  Eastern  college  one  day 
enlarged  before  his  class  on  a  subtle  policy  attributed  by  him 
to  the  Church  of  Rome  of  locating  Jesuit  spies  wherever  an 
opportunity  was  afforded  of  doing  mischief.  "They  locate 
themselves,"  said  he,  "  in  every  city,  every  town,  every  com- 
munity, every  social  circle,  with  an  eye  upon  every  family.  I 
should  not  be  surprised  to  learn  that  there  is  a  concealed 
Jesuit,  perhaps  in  this  very  institution,  perhaps  in  this  class- 
room at  this  very  moment."  The  impression  made  upon  the 
studerits  was  not  a  very  solemn  one. 


G limps iS  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  141 

That  Break-up  of  Tractarianism  at  the  Seminary  to  which 
I  confine  myself  in  these  reminiscences  as  closely  as  possible, 
for  the  sake  of  preserving  the  necessary  unities,  was  not  pre- 
cisely coincident  with  the  general  tide  of  conversions,  either 
in  England  or  in  America,  which  carried  so  many  Tractarians 
into  the  Catholic  Church. 

In  a  series  of  lectures  delivered  at  London  by  John  Henry 
Newman,  in  1849  ^r  1850,  he  compares  the  great  breakup  of 
Tractarianism  to  an  incident  related  in  X\\q.  Arabian  Nig]its,  when 
Sindbad,  the  sailor,  and  his  companions  found  themselves 
stranded  on  what  they  took  to  be  an  island,  but  was  in  reality 
the  back  of  a  sleeping  whale.  The  merry  crew  amused  them- 
selves in  dancing,  and  shouting,  and  a  variety  of  other  antics 
on  the  back  of  the  unconscious  creature,  and  with  perfect  safety. 
When,  however,  they  proceeded  to  build  a  fire  upon  his  back 
the  great  fish  woke  up  to  a  sense  of  pain  and,  becoming  conscious 
that  mischief  was  going  on,  he  shook  himself  suddenly  free 
from  these  disturbers  or  his  peace.  In  England  the  Tractarian 
coals  grew  too  hot  for  toleration  when  William  George  Ward, 
at  Oxford,  published  his  Ideal  of  a  Christian  Church.  Ward's 
speedy  condemnation  followed,  and  all  the  Tractarians  who 
really  meant  anything  by  their  Catholic  antics  were  either 
obliged  to  take  refuge  in  the  real  Catholic  Church,  or  else  recon- 
cile themselves  to  those  quiet  slumbers  so  congenial  to  their 
Anglican  mother. 

The  breakup  of  Tractarianism  in  the  United  States  was 
simultaneous  with  that  in  England.  In  the  Mother  Country  and 
in  the  Mother  Church  the  coals  on  the  whale's  back  lay  hottest 
at  Oxford,  and  there  the  first  nervous  shock  of  the  sleepy  old 
creature  made  itself  felt.  The  Seminary  at  Chelsea  was  the  Ox- 
ford of  American  Anglicanism,  and  there  occurred  also  the 
first  throes  of  that  convulsion  which  forced  so  many  enthusias- 
tic young  Tractarians  either  to  climb  back  into  the  Protestant 
ship  and  stay  quiet,  or  else  take  to  the  water  and  swim  for 
their  lives. 

One  student  had  already  left  and  united  with  the  ancient 
church    before    the  whale    began  to  flop.     This  was  Edward  W. 


142  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

Putnam,  of  the  class  succeeding  mine.  His  conversion  occurred 
in  1844.  It  took  place  so  quietly  that  many  of  us  did  not 
know  of  it  when  he  left  us.  Even  now  I  do  not  know  any  de- 
tails to  show  the  special  reasons  and  circumstances  which  led  to 
his  conversion.  About  three  years  afterwards  he  took  priest's 
orders  in  the  Catholic  Church.  I  think  he  must  have  been  or- 
dained for  the  diocese  of  Albany,  for  I  find  his  name  in  the 
parish  records  of  St.  Mary's,  Albany,  officiating  under  Bishop 
McCloskey  during  the  first  year  of  his  pontificate  in  that  dio- 
cese, after  that  prelate's  transfer  from  New  York.  He  was  a 
good,  zealous,  and  fervent  priest,  and  his  memory  still  remains 
in  benediction  among  the  few  Catholics  of  Albany  who  are  old 
enough  to  look  back  to  his  time.  The  latter  part  of  his  life 
was  spent  in  Maine.  He  was  a  fruit  of  the  Tractarian  move- 
ment, but  he  does  not  belong  to  that  great  break-up  of  which 
I  am  now  speaking. 

The  first  conversion  consequent  upon  the  great  scare  at 
Chelsea  in  January,  1845,  was  my  own.  I  was  not  at  the 
seminary  when  the  scare  took  place,  although  my  name  was 
involved  in  the  supposed  conspiracy.  Its  influence  upon  my 
life,  however,  was  almost  instantaneous.  The  reader  must 
here  recall  the  pretty  little  by-play  of  founding  a  monastery 
which  Wadhams  and  I,  in  connection  with  McVickar,  were 
carrying  on  among. the  Adirondacks  in  Essex  County.  This 
air-drawn  convent  of  the  future  went  down  at  once  into  the 
ocean  when  the  scared  fish  shook  his  sides  and  dived. 
McVickar  crawled  back  at  once  into  safe  quarters.  Our  beauti- 
ful Fata  Morgana  disappeared  like  a  dream.  Prior  Wadhams, 
although  suddenly  unfrocked,  still  held  his  mission  in  Essex 
County  and  could  take  time  to  feel  his  way  out.  But  I  was 
completely  afloat.  Crawl  back  like  McVickar  and  others,  I 
would  not.  Go  forward  in  pure  dreamland,  wit!  o.it  a  single 
peg  to  hang  a  hope  on,  I  could  not.  Neither  could  I  go  home 
to  my  father's  house  at  Saratoga,  and  to  the  village  circle 
which  surrounded  it.  There  the  atmosphere  was  more  stifling 
even  than  the  sham  pretences  to  Catholicity  so  rife  in  Episco- 
palian Protestantism.  Besides  this,  my  Tractarian  course  had 
been    so    contrary   to    the  wishes  of    my  parents   and  other    old 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  143 

friends  near  the  homestead,  that  it  seemed  to  me  a  call  of 
honor  to  become  independent,  and  by  earning  my  own  living 
acquire  a  right  to  follow  my  own  conscience.  The  monastic 
bond  between  myself  and  Wadhams  being  broken,  there  was 
nothing  to  keep  me  any  longer  by  Wadhams'  side.  Our 
vocations  lay  along  different  lines,  and  I  must  strike  out  a 
separate  path  for  myself.  I  therefore  made  arrangements  to 
work  at  a  lath-mill  in  Essex  County  until  I  could  see  my 
way  distinctly  to  join  the  Catholic  Church,  and  enter  its  priest- 
hood. Before  I  could  carry  out  this  plan,  McMaster  arrived  at 
Ticonderoga  on  his  way  to  Canada,  and  my  friend  and  I  went 
down  there  to  meet  him.  On  learning  my  determination  to 
become  a  Catholic,  and  my  preliminary  purpose  of  becoming  a 
miller's  boy,  McMaster  said  : 

"  Don't  do  that.  I  can  tell  you  where  to  go.  I've  stumbled 
on  a  priest  in  New  York  City  that  is  just  the  man  to  receive 
you  into  the  church.  It  is  Father  Gabriel  Rumpler.  He  is  the 
superior  of  a  convent  of  Redemptorist  priests  in  Third  Street, 
New  York.  He  is  a  most  remarkable  man,  full  of  learning, 
wisdom,  experience,  and  a  truly  holy  man.  And  besides  that, 
it  is  an  order  of  religious  missionaries.  You  were  always  wild 
after  missionary  work.     You  can't  do  better  than  join  them." 

The  account  he  gave  of  Father  Rumpler  and  of  the 
Redemptorists  put  an  end  at  once  to  my  project  of  going  into 
the  lath  business,  It  opened  a  practical  door  by  which  to 
enter  the  Catholic  Church.  It  promised  me  a  wise  Ananias  to 
take  me  by  the  hand  and  direct  my  course  among  the  new 
faces  which  were  soon  to  gather  around  me,  and  in  the  new 
life  which  lay  before  me.  My  determination  to  become  a 
Catholic  was  fixed  and  resolute.  To  unite  with  the  Catholic 
Church  all  I  needed  was  an  introduction  to  it.  The  oppor- 
tunity was  now   offered  and  I  embraced  it  immediately. 

Wadhams  and  McMaster  accompanied  me  from  Ticonderoga 
village  to  the  steamboat  dock  by  the  old  fort  to  see  me  off.  I 
urged  the  former  to  take  the  same  step  without  delay. 

"Don't  hurry  me,  Walworth,"  said  he;  "I  am  in  a  position 
of  responsibility  and  confidence,  and  when  I  leave,  if  leave  I 
must,  it  shall  be  done  handsomely.     You  have  no  charge.     You 


144  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 


have  only  to  let  your  bishop  know  what  you  are  about  doing, 
and  then  do  it." 

*'  Go  ahead,  dear  old  boy,"  said  McMaster.  "  I'm  ashamed 
to  have  you  get  the  start  of  me,  but  I'll  follow  you  soon.  I've 
been  fooling  about  with  these  Puseyite  playthings  too  long. 
Look  for  me  in  Third  Street  when  I  get  back  from   Montreal." 

There  we  parted.  I  took  the  steamer  for  Whitehall.  Mc- 
Master took  the  same  boat  on  its  return  and  made  his  visit  to 
Canada,  and  Wadhams  went  back,  lonely  and  desolate,  to  his 
room  at  the  village  inn  at  Ticonderoga  Falls. 

A  couple  of  days  later  found  me  knocking  at  the  convent 
door  in  Third  Street.  I  found  in  Father  Rumpler  the  very 
man  I  needed.  The  Redemptorist  convent  and  church  were 
wooden  structures  at  that  time  and  very  shabby.  Everything 
was  new  and  poor.     I  liked  it  all  the    better   for  its  destitution. 

During  my  stay  in  New  York  I  stopped  with  my  sister, 
Mrs.  Jenkins,  who  resided  with  her  husband  and  children  in 
Eleventh  Street,  near  the  corner  of  Fifth  Avenue ;  but  I  visited 
the  convent  in  Third  Street  every  day.  Father  Rumpler 
examined  me  very  particularly,  to  see  how  near  my  religious 
convictions  were  in  accord  with  Catholic  faith  and  how  far  my 
intelligence  of  Catholic  doctrine  extended.  My  answers  were 
satisfactory,  and  he  said :  "  I  see  no  reason  to  delay  your  re- 
ception into  the  church.  Is  there  anything  in  Catholic  doc- 
trine which  you  find  difficult  to  believe?"  I  answered:  "No, 
father.  I  do  not  understand  Indulgences,  but  whatever  that 
doctrine  really  is,  I  am  willing  to  take  it  on  trust  without  the 
least  doubt  that  whatever  the  church  believes  and  teaches  is 
true."     He  smiled  and  said  : 

•'  Well,  that  has  the  true  ring  of  faith.  You  can  take  your 
time  to  study  up  that  question,  and  now  about    your  baptism." 

I  told  him  what  I  knew  about  my  baptism  when  an  infant 
by  a  Presbyterian  minister;  and  the  subsequent  ceremony  of 
trine  immersion  in  the  waters  of  New  York  Bay  administered 
by  my  old  friend,  the  Rev.  Caleb  Clapp.  He  said  that  the  first 
baptism  was  probably  done  right  and  so  valid,  but  if  not,  the  sec- 
ond was  superabundantly  sufficient,  and  could  not  be  made  surer. 

On    Friday,  May  16,   1845,  I    made    my  profession  of    Faith, 


Glimpses  of  Ltfe  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  145 

in  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Redeemer,  in  the  presence  of  three 
or  four  witnesses  only,  and  thus  terminated  at  the  same  mo- 
ment my  connection  with  the  Chelsea  Seminary  and  with  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  On  the  following  Sunday  I  made 
my  first  Communion  at  the  same  altar.  Shortly  after  I  was 
confirmed  at  St.  Joseph's  Church,  on  Sixth  Avenue,  by  Arch- 
bishop  Hughes. 

In  the  meantime  McMaster  had  arrived  at  New  York.  He 
took  up  his  quarters  with  the  Redemptorists,  and  was  there  re- 
ceived into  the  church.  Both  of  us  had  come  also  to  the  deter- 
mination to  embrace  the  religious  life  in  the  Redemptorist  Or- 
der. About  the  middle  of  June  I  went  to  visit  my  parents  at 
Saratoga,  where  I  remained  two  or  three  weeks.  I  then  re- 
turned to  New  York,  and  on  the  2d  of  August  I  set  sail,  in 
company  with  McMaster  and  Isaac  Hecker,  for  the  novitiate  at 
St.  Trond,  in  Belgium. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  for  me  to  give  any  further  details 
concerning  the  conversion  of  McMaster  and  that  of  Wadhams, 
since  that  would  be  only  to  repeat  what  has  already  been  pub- 
lished at  some  length  in  my  "Reminiscences"  of  the  latter.  I 
may  be  excused  in  like  manner  for  observing  the  same  reticence 
in  regard  to  my  friend,  Henry  McVickar.  He  never  became  a 
Catholic.  He  died,  not  long  after  his  leaving  the  seminary, 
still  an  Episcopalian  and  in  deacon's  orders.  Another  of  the 
same  family,  Lawrence  McVickar,  more  happy  than  Henry, 
found  his  way  into  the  Catholic  Church  at  Chicago,  or  Milwau- 
kee, during  the  sixties.  He  was  a  nephew  of  Dr.  John  Mc- 
Vickar, of  Columbia  College,  and  therefore  a  first  cousin  of  my 
old  friend  and  fellow-seminarian.     He  also  died  young. 

In  my  next  chapter  I  propose  to  continue  my  account  of 
the  great  break-up  of  Tractarianism  in  the  United  States,  in- 
troducing especially  what  I  remember  or  have  ascertained  of 
other  old  companions  at  the  seminary  whose  names  have  been 
introduced  to  the  reader  in  these  Reminiscences. 


146  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 


CHAPTER   XI. 

THE  BREAK-UP  (CONTINUED). — DIVERGING  PATHS.^DONELLY. 
—  WATTSON. —  EVERETT.  —  PLATT.  —  WHITCHER.  — AMERICAN 
OBEDIENCE  TO  LAW.  —  BLIND  OBEDIENCE.  —  THE  CHELSEA 
BREAK-UP  ECHOED  IN  MARYLAND.  —  HEWIT,  BAKER,  AND 
LYMAN. 

ONE  of  the  principal  students  at  the  seminary  suspected 
of  Romish  tendencies,  and  even  of  being  engaged  in  a 
complot  against  the  interests  of  the  seminary  and  the  peace  of 
Protestant  Episcopalianism,  was  James  B.  Donelly,  of  the  class 
of  1846,  As  I  have  already  stated,  on  his  trial  before  the  faculty 
he  was  acquitted  for  want  of  definite  proof,  but  was  for  all  that 
obliged  to  leave  the  seminary.  Dr.  Sfabury  befriended  him, 
and  found  employment  for  him  in  the  office  of  the  New  York 
CJiurchman.  Perhaps,  also,  Donelly  served,  as  Carey  had  done 
before  him,  as  assistant  to  Seabury  in  the  little  old  Church  of 
the  Annunciation,  since  known  as  St,  Ambrose's,  on  the  corner 
of  Thompson  and  Prince  Streets. 

I  had  some  correspondence  with  Donelly  while  he  was  thus 
engaged  in  New  York  and  I  was  residing  with  my  friend  Wad- 
hams  in  Essex  County,  before  my  entry  into  the  Church  Catho- 
lic. I  sent  him  an  article  which  I  wished  to  have  published  in 
the  Chicrchman.  The  spirit  of  the  article  was  altogether  too  hot 
for  even  Dr.  Seabury  to  handle,  as  he  informed  me  through 
Donelly,  who  urged  me  to  come  down  to  New  York  and  have 
a  talk  with  the  doctor  about  it. 

Later,  after  my  profession  of  faith,  Donelly  made  a  visit  to 
the  Redemptorist  Convent  upon  my  invitation,  made  acquain- 
tance with  Father  Rumpler,  and  looked  at  the  church  and 
convent  buildings  with  great  interest.  He  seemed  much  de- 
pressed and  under  great  restraint,  more  so  when  talking  with 
me  than  when  in  conversation  with  Father  Rumpler.      Whether 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  147 

the  extreme  poverty  which  prevailed  everywhere  was  repug- 
nant to  him  or  not  I  cannot  say,  but  he  returned  no  more  and 
I  never  saw  him  again. 

It  is  certain  that  shortly  after  this  last  interview  of  ours 
Donelly  had  it  in  his  mind  to  enter  the  Catholic  fold,  but 
needed  encouragement  to  carry  it  out.  One  day  when  passing 
by  the  Catholic  Cathedral  on  Mulberry  Street,  in  company  with 
Wattson,  his  classmate  and  co-conspirator,  he  proposed  to  the 
latter  to  make  a  call  on  Archbishop  Hughes.  Wattson  hesitat- 
ed for  awhile,  but  finally  declined  the  offer,  and  the  golden 
opportunity  of  grace  passed  away  from  both  for  ever.  This 
incident  I  have  from  Wattson's  own  son,  now  rector  of  St. 
John's  Church,  Kingston.  In  an  interview  with  this  latter  gen- 
tleman he  communicated  to  me  many  incidents  derived  from 
his  father  concerning  these  early  days,  with  full  freedom  to 
publish  all  he  communicated.  His  father  said  to  him  once : 
"Had  I  accepted  Donelly's  invitation  at  that  time  and  visited 
Archbishop  Hughes,  there  is  little  probability  that  either  you 
or.  I  would  now  be  Episcopalians." 

Some  things  communicated  to  me  by  Wattson  (the  younger) 
he  put  down  on  paper,  for  I  feared  to  trust  my  memory  too 
far.     Among  these  I  find  the  following: 

"  Donelly,  on  leaving  the  seminary,  was  ordained  by  Bishop 
Onderdonk  and  was  assistant  to  Dr.  Seabury.  Pressure  becom- 
ing too  great,  he  was  forced  to  leave  New  York  and  so  far 
ostracised  that  he  took  some  outofthe-way  parish  in  the  South 
and  shortly  after  died." 

From  all  that  I  can  hear  of  James  B.  Donelly,  he  died  a 
broken-spirited  man.  He  was  naturally  too  much  of  a  man  to 
thrive  while  trampling  upon  his  conscience. 

Joseph  N,  Wattson,  after  being  dismissed  from  the  semi- 
nary, sought  his  Diocesan,  Bishop  Lee  of  Delaware,  who 
calmly  told  him,  "Young  man,  my  advice  to  you  is:  go  to 
Rome,  for  that  is  where  you  belong."  He  was  finally  or- 
dained to  the  priesthood  in  the  diocese  of  Maryland,  by  Bishop 
Whittingham.  He  afterwards  went  to  Mississippi,  but  at  the 
breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War  returned  to  Maryland  and  re- 
mained there  until  a  few  years  before  his  death,  which  occurred 


148  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Scjuijiaiy. 

in  Kingston,  New  York,  in  1887.  By  a  singular  coincidence 
Bishop  Lee  ordained  to  the  diaconate  in  June,  1885,  the  Rev. 
Lewis  T.  Wattson,  now  rector  of  St.  John's  Episcopal  Church, 
Kingston,  New  York — and  he  was  presented  by  his  father,  Jo- 
seph N.  Wattson,  whom  Bishop  Lee  years  before  had  advised 
to  go  to  Rome. 

William  Everett,  known  familiarly  amongst  us  by  the  name 
of  Doctor,  was  as  far  advanced  as  any  of  us  in  Tractarianism, 
but  was  of  a  prudent  and  quiet  disposition,  besides  being  highly 
esteemed  for  his  scholarship,  wisdom,  and  high  moral  qualities. 
I  cannot  remember  that  he  encountered  any  difificulties  in  the 
way  of  his  graduation  or  receiving  of  orders.  He  did  not  enter 
the  true  church  until  1850  or  1851.  I  met  him  for  the  first 
time  after  my  own  conversion,  and  after  my  return  from  Eu- 
rope, while  engaged  in  giving  a  mission  at  Saint  Peter's  Church, 
Barclay  Street,  where  he  visited  me. 

It  was  a  great  joy  to  meet  my  old  companion  again  and 
greet  him  as  a  Catholic.  He  is  still  on  duty  as  rector  of  Na- 
tivity Church  in  New  York,  over  which  he  has  presided  for 
many  long  years. 

My  cousin,  Charles  Henry  Piatt,  one  of  those  included  with 
me  in  the  charge  of  conspiracy  against  Anglican  Protestantism 
and  the  interests  of  the  seminary,  was,  at  the  time,  a  graduate 
and  already  in  orders  at  Rochester.  He  was  then  as  near  to 
Rome  as  man  can  come  without  actually  crossing  the  gulf. 
When  Bishop  De  Lancey,  of  the  Western  diocese,  received  my 
letter  asking  him  to  take  my  name  off  from  his  list  of  candi- 
dates, he  said  to  Piatt,  "What  will  your  cousin  do?  Will  he 
go  over  to  Rome  ?  "  Piatt  answered  that  of  course  I  would. 
His  manner  was  so  indignant  and  the  words  he  added  were  so 
full  of  contemptuous  bitterness  for  the  thraldom  in  which  he 
felt  himself  enwrapped,  that  the  bishop  felt  it  necessary  to  em- 
ploy every  means  to  hold  him  to  his  chains.  Several  of  Piatt's 
letters  to  Wadhams  may  be  found  in  my  "Reminiscences"  of 
that  good  bishop.  They  show  how  near  he  then  came  to  his 
salvation. 

A  short  time  before  my  departure  for  Europe  and  the  Re- 
demptorist   novitiate,    I    wrote    to    my    cousin    urging    him    to 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  149 

come  to  New  York  and  see  me  off.  He  replied  that  he  could 
not  come.  That  to  do  so  would  involve  a  decision  to  leave  the 
Anglican  communion,  and  that  he  could  not  break  his  mother's 
heart  by  taking  5uch  a  step.  I  have  lost  his  letter  and  remem- 
ber in  general  only  its  substance.  The  state  of  his  conscience 
is  clearly  shown  in  the  first  words  of  the  letter,  which  I  re- 
member very  distinctly.     Tt  began  thus : 

'*  Dear  Cousin:  I  thank  my  God  that  your  feet  are  at 
last  planted  upon  the  '  Rock  of  Peter.'  " 

Poor  man !  He  lived  to  marry  and  have  a  family.  He 
served  as  chaplain  in  the  army  of  the  Union.  He  never  be- 
came a  Catholic.  At  the  time  of  his  death,  in  1869,  he  was 
rector  of  Christ  Church,  Binghamton,  N.  Y. 

The.  influence  of  my  cousin's  example  was  very  unfortunate 
upon  his  classmate,  co-conspirator,  and  most  familiar  friend, 
Benjamin  W.  Whitcher.  I  had  sent  to  him  a  similar  invitation 
to  come  and  see  me  before  I  left  for  Belgium.  At  first  he  was 
inclined  to  do  so  and  endeavored,  though  in  vain,  to  engage 
Piatt  to  accompany  him.  Of  this  he  informed  me  in  his  reply, 
saying  also  that  he  could  not  venture  to  come  alone.  When 
denounced,  as  we  have  seen,  for  his  Romanizing  tendencies,  he 
was  summoned  to  his  bishop  for  examination,  and  there  was  a 
delay  about  his  ordination.  A  letter  of  Piatt's  dated  April  6, 
1846,  which  is  given  in  the  "  Reminiscences  "  of  Wadhams,  tells 
us  something  of  this  affair.     We  read  as  follows  : 

"  Whitcher  is  in  priest's  orders.  He  had  a  hard  time  win- 
ter before  the  last.  They  passed  him  to  the  priesthood  last  fall; 
but  he  was  plump  with  them,  and  kept  nothing  back." 

Whitcher  must  be  classed  amongst  that  large  number  of 
Christian  workers,  apparently  very  zealous  at  first,  who  are 
covered  by  our  Lord's  rebuke  when  he  says,  "  No  man  putting 
his  hand  to  the  plough,  and  looking  back,  is  fit  for  the  king- 
dom of  God."  His  first  backward  step  was  when  he  took 
orders  in  the  Episcopalian  communion.  The  second  was  when 
he  took  a  Presbyterian  wife.  Still  later  on,  becoming  a  widow- 
er, he  took  a  second  wife,  and  became  surrounded  by  a  family 
of  children.  Ten  years  of  his  life  passed  away  in  this  false 
position  when,  much  shorn  of  his    former  strength  and  demoral- 


150  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

ized  by  loss  of  self-respect,  he  found  his  way  into  the  Catholic 
Church,  r  I  will  give  in  detail  that  part  of  his  conversion  with 
which  I  had  something  to  do. 

In  1855,  if  I  remember  rightly,  I  was  engaged  in  giving  a 
mission  at  St.  Patrick's,  Utica.  Whitcher,  at  that  time,  had 
charge  of  an  Episcopalian  church  near  by  at  Whitesboro.'  One 
day  a  card  was  brought  up  to  my  room  bearing  the  name  of 
my  old  friend  upon  it.  I  soon  had  him  by  the  hand.  I  antici- 
pated a  warm  discussion,  for  I  have  never  found  any  Protest- 
ants more  fierce  in  controversial  fencing  than  old  Tractarians 
who  have  backed  away  from  their  earlier  convictions.  I  was 
therefore  resolved,  if  possible,  to  get  in  the  first  thrust.  After 
he  had  taken  his  seat  and  we  had  got  past  the  first  natural 
greetings,  I  said  : 

"  Well,  Whitcher,  don't  let  us  dodge  the  one  great  matter 
we  are  both  thinking  of.  Why  are  you  not  a  Catholic  long 
before  this?"  Without  showing  the  least  signs  of  fight, 
Whitcher  dropped  his  head  and  answered  : 

"  Sure  enough,  that  is  the  great  question,  and  I  don't  know 
how  to  answer  it." 

"  Ten  long  years  of  your  life  have  passed  away,"  I  con- 
tinued, "  and  still  here  you  are,  looking  one  way  and  rowing  the 
other.     How  can  you  do  it?    How  can  your  conscience  bear  it?" 

"Conscience!"  he  repeated  mournfully;  "don't  talk  of  con- 
science.    I  don't  know  that  I  have  any  conscience  left." 

His  case  was  a  plain  one.  I  urged  him  to  do  his  duty 
manfully  and  wiihout  further  delay.  To  this  he  agreed.  "  Only 
give  me  two  or  three  weeks,"  said  he,  "  to  settle  up  a  few 
affairs,  and  I  promise  you  that  I  will  then  go  to  Father  Mc- 
Farland  and  put  myself  in  his  hands."  This  promise  he  car- 
ried out  faithfully.  Father  McFarland,  then  in  charge  of  St. 
John's  Church,  Utica,  is  now  well  remembered  as  the  third 
bishop  of  Hartford,  Conn.  Whitcher  has  published  a  full  his- 
tory of  his  conversion,  giving  his  religious  life  as  Presbyterian 
and  Episcopalian.  In  this  will  be  found  some  account  of  his 
connection  with  the  break-up  at  the  seminary,  and  his  examin- 
ation before  his  bishop.  It  is  called  "The  Story  of  a  Convert, 
as  told  to  his  former  parishioners   after  he  became  a  Catholic." 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  a7t  Anglican  Seminary.  151 

I  do  not  think  that  the  incidents  thus  far  given  or  any 
others  that  I  may  give  tend  to  show  anything  like  a  spirit  of 
disobedience  to  superiors  in  young  Tractarians  or  any  others  in 
America  who  followed  the  Oxford  movement.  Whatever  those 
educated  under  European  influences  may  think  of  us,  the  virtue 
of  obedience  and  respect  for  rightful  authority  comes  as  easily 
and  naturally  to  true  Americans  as  to  any  other  people.  The 
great  crisis  which  most  threatens  the  prosperity  of  our  country 
at  the  present  time  is  one  which  shows  foreign  lawlessness 
reaching  to  anarchy  combined  against  American  law  and  order. 
So  long  as  Americans  remain  American,  nihilism  and  anarchy 
imported  from  abroad  will  have  to  bow  before  the  majesty  of 
law.  And  let  me  add,  the  more  that  Americans  study  the 
Catholic  Church  and  its  religion,  from  her  own  doctrines,  from 
her  own  decrees  and  her  own  authors,  the  more  they  will  find 
that  true  obedience  and  true  liberty  are  twin  sisters.  At  the 
bottom  of  this  whole  matter  lies  the  primary  question :  In  what 
does  the  true  virtue  of  obedience  consist  ? 

I  have  the  following  incident  from  Father  Isaac  Hecker, 
late  superior-general  of  the  Paulists.  It  came  to  him  from  the 
lips  of  Cardinal  Barnabo,  who  was  so  long  Prefect  of  the  Propa- 
ganda in  the  days  of  Pius  IX.  Once,  when  presenting  and 
recommending  to  that  Pontiff  an  appeal  from  an  American 
religious  against  his  superior,  the  Holy  Father  said: 

"  What  shall  we  think  of  these  Americans  ?  Do  they  under- 
stand obedience  ?  " 

The  cardinal  replied  : 

"  I  do  not  think  they  know  much  about  blind  obedience.  I 
do  think,  however,  that  they  understand  what  true  obedience 
is,  and  that  they  practise  it  as  well  as  any  other  people." 

Another  incident  goes  more  thoroughly  into  the  question. 
I  have  it  from  Bishop  Lynch  of  Charleston,  one  of  the  most 
learned  and  gifted  prelates  that  our  American  hierarchy  ever 
knew.  He  was  a  student  at  Rome  in  the  time  of  Pope  Gregory 
XVI. 

A  young  American  had  been  admitted  into  the  English 
College  there,  and  held  a  room  in  the  building  during  the 
rectorship  of  Dr.  Wiseman,  afterwards  cardinal.     He  had  nearly 


152  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

completed  his  course  of  studies  when  a  young  Englishman  of 
a  distinguished  family  applied  for  admission  into  the  same 
college.  It  was  full.  The  rector  endeavored  to  make  place  for 
him  by  persuading  our  American  student  to  give  up  his  room 
and  pursue  his  studies  privately,  promising  him  that  he  should 
graduate  like  the  rest  and  receive  his  diploma. 

The  student  replied  that  he  did  not  value  his  position  in 
the  institution  simply  for  the  privilege  of  a  diploma,  but  v/as 
particularly  anxious  to  have  the  benefit  of  the  whole  course  of 
studies.  For  this  reason  he  declined  to  withdraw.  He  persisted 
in  this  determination  notwithstanding  all  that  the  rector  could 
urge,  and  although  a  day  or  two  was  given  him  to  consider. 
Dr.  Wiseman  then  took  a  short  and  decisive  way  to  enforce  his 
will.  Oil  returning  to  his  room  one  morning  the  student  found 
his  door  locked  and  all  his  furniture  moved  out  into  the  cor- 
ridor. No  remedy  was  left  him  but  to  appeal  to  higher  au- 
thority. He  did  appeal  to  the  Cardinal  Prefect  of  the  Pro- 
paganda. The  cardinal  was  surprised  and  displeased.  He  con- 
sidered that  the  young  man  had  been  wronged.  He  promised 
to  see  him  restored  to  his  rights,  and  appointed  a  day  when 
he  should  call  again. 

When  presenting  himself  again  on  the  day  appointed  he  did 
not  find  the  cardinal  prefect  so  resolute.  He  was  told  that  Dr. 
Wiseman  was  a  very  eminent  man  whose  standing  and  influence 
at  Rome  were  very  high.  It  would  be  far  more  prudent  and 
advisable  to  yield  to  his  desires,  instead  of  persisting  in  an  op- 
position which  would  be  almost  sure  to  prove  fruitless.  The 
unfortunate  appellant  saw  that  he  had  little  to  hope  from  the 
present  appeal. 

"I  will  not  trouble  your  eminence  any  further,"  he  said,  "in 
this  matter,  if  you  will  promise  to  do  me  one  favor,  which  will 
cost  you  very  little.  Will  you  obtain  for  me  a  private  audience 
with  the  Holy  Father  himself?" 

This  promise  was  readily  given.  At  the  audience  thus 
obtained  the  Holy  Father  listened  with  great  attention,  noting 
down  carefully  certain  particulars.  "  I  will  make  further  in- 
quiries into  this  affair,"  he  said,  "  and  that  at  once.  Give  me 
your  present  address,  and  leave  all  the  rest  to  me." 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  153 

It  was  not  long  before  some  of  the  Papal  sbirri  appeared 
at  the  English  College  and  moved  all  our  student's  furniture 
back  into  his  room.  This,  of  course,  settled  the  whole  matter 
so  far  as  that  case  was  concerned.  Another  point,  however, 
was  settled  in  the  mind  of  the  English  rector. 

"  So  long  as  I  am  head  of  this  college,"  said  he,  "  no 
Americans  shall  get  into  it  again.  Jhey  zuont  obey  anything  but 
laioy 

I  have  always  taken  great  pleasure  in  this  anecdote  because 
I  consider  it  to  be  highly  complimentary  to  the  American 
character.  I  am  free  to  confess  that  blind  obedience  finds  little 
favor  in  this  country.  St.  Francis  of  Sales,  when  conversing 
one  day  with  certain  young  sisters  of  the  Order  of  the  Visi- 
tation on  the  virtue  of  obedience,  was  asked  what  they  should  do 
in  case  one  of  their  superiors  should  give  some  order  that  would 
be  contrary  to  the  laws  of  God  or  of  the  Church  ?  Francis  re- 
plied that  in  that  case  they  should  not  obey  her,  any  more 
than  if  the  superior  were  to  say,  "  Sister,  go  into  the  garden 
and  gather  some  flowers,  and  throw  yourself  out  of  the  window 
that  you  may  get  there  the  sooner,"  when  the  sister  should 
gently  and  respectfully  answer  :  "  Mother,  if  you  please,  I  will 
go  down  the  stairs." 

I  have  already  said  that  the  progress  of  the  Oxford  move- 
ment in  the  United  States,  although  generally  adverse  to  a 
blind  obedience,  was  not  characterized  by  a  spirit  of  disobedi- 
ence, though  this  was  frequently  charged  against  some  of  them 
by  their  bishops  and  other  superiors.  We  have  seen  something 
of  this  overstraining  of  authority  in  the  experience  of  Henry 
McVickar  at  the  Chelsea  Seminary,  which  led  to  his  withdrawal 
from  that  institution.  Some  of  the  bishops  in  their  dioceses 
carried  on  things  with  a  much  higher  hand.  I  will  here  refer 
to  a  few  instances  with  which  I  am  most  familiar,  or  which  are 
most  accessible  to  me.  Let  us  begin  with  the  diocese  of 
Maryland. 

William  Rollinson  Whittingham  was  one  of  the  foremost 
figures  of  the  Episcopalian  communion  at  the  period  of  which 
I  am  treating.  He  graduated  at  the  Chelsea  Seminary  in 
1825,  and    officiated  as   professor   of    ecclesiastical    history  from 


154  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

1836  to  1840,  when,  being  made  bishop,  he  moved  to  Baltimore 
and  assumed  charge  of  his  diocese.  I  am  glad  to  introduce 
Bishop  Whittingham  to  the  reader,  not  only  because  of  the  im- 


Rev.  Uwight  Lyman. 


portance  of  his  diocese  and  of  his  own  personal  eminence,  but 
because,  so  far  as  he  dared  to  be  so,  he  was  a  Tractarian. 
Arthur  Carey  had  been  one  of  his  pupils  at  the  seminary. 
After   Carey's    ordination    Whittingham    endeavored     to     secure 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  155 

him  for  his  diocese,  but  without  success.  Several  young  men, 
however,  not  unlike  Carey,  soon  gathered  around  the  new 
bishop  and  looked  up  to  him  as  a  guide  and  protector.  Three 
of  these,  afterwards  converts  to  Rome,  are  especially  memora- 
ble. Dwight  Lyman  became  an  inmate  of  his  family.  When 
Lyman  went  to  Hagerstown  to  pursue  his  studies  at  St. 
James's  College,  Nathaniel  Augustus  Hewit  took  his  place  with 
the  bishop's  family,  in  Courtlandt  Street.  Directly  opposite, 
on  the  same  street,  resided  Francis  Baker.  The  bishop's 
demands  upon  the  obedience  of  these  three  rare  young  church- 
men were  remarkable,  and  remarkable  was  their  docility. 
Father  Hewit  says  in  his  Memoir  of  Baker: 

"  In  Bishop  Whittingham's  own  eyes,  he  was  himself  the 
equivalent  of  the  whole  Catholic  episcopate.  Consequently, 
what  he  and  his  colleagues  and  predecessors  in  the  Anglican 
Church  had  decreed  had  full  Catholic  authority,  and  was  just 
as  final  and  authoritative  as  if  the  whole  world  had  taken  part 
in  it.  Hence  the  assertion  of  a  despotic,  exclusive  authority  of 
the  Anglican  Church,  concentrated  in  his  person,  over  every  one 
who  acknowledged  his  jurisdiction.  He  would  not  permit  us 
to  attend  any  Catholic  services,  or  read  any  Catholic  books,  as 
an  ordinary  thing."  Hewit  was  anxious  to  read  Mohler's  Sym- 
bolism and  Ward's  Ideal  of  a  Christian  ChnrcJi,  but  did  not  do 
so  on  account  of  the  bishop's  prohibition.  He  even  gave  up 
using  certain  Anglican  books  of  devotion  to  please  him.  Hewit 
says  :  "  Baker  was  equally  obedient  with  myself  at  that  time ; 
although  afterward,  when  he  was  governed  more  by  common 
sense  and  a  just  sentiment  of  his  own  rights,  he  read  whatever 
he  thought  proper." 

The  compliance,  however,  which  Bishop  Whittingham  and 
other  Episcopalian  bishops  of  his  type  required  from  their  neo- 
phytes was  not  so  much  an  obedience  to  law,  for  Episcopalian- 
ism  in  the  United  States  has  very  little  ecclesiastical  law  to 
back  it  up.  The  bishop  stands  in  the  midst  of  his  clergy  only 
as  primus  ifitcr  pares.  He  is  superior  in  dignity  rather  than  in 
power.  He  has  not  much  authority  of  a  kind  that  can  be  en- 
forced. He  can  neither  appoint  a  rector  to  a  parish  nor  re- 
move   one    from    his   charge.     He    has  no  cathedral   properly  so 


156  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglieein  Seviinary. 

called  ;  that  is  to  say,  a  seat,  or  see,  in  any  mother  church  around 
which  the  other  churches  of  the  diocese  cluster  as  dependencies. 
The  actual  state  of  things  is  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  in  New 
ii^ork  for  many  years  the  bishop  occupied  the  position  of  assis- 
tant minister  in  Trinity  Church.  So  at  Baltimore  Bishop  Whit- 
tingham,  who  for  a  long  time  was  rector  o'f  no  church  there, 
had  no  authority  in  any  of  the  churches.  He  could  not,  for  in- 
stance, ofiliciate  or  preach  at  St.  Paul's  Church,  in  Charles  Street, 
without  permission  of  Dr.  Wyatt,  who  was  the  rector. 

There  is,  however,  another  kind  of  authority  not  founded  on 
any  canonical  law,  which  Episcopalian  bishops  often  claim,  and 
is  carried  even  farther  in  that  denomination  than  in  the  Catho- 
lic Church.  It  is  simply  that  authority  exerted  over  the  opinions, 
actions,  and  general  life  of  others  founded  upon  a  deference  to 
some  superiority  in  age,  office,  dignity,  or  experience  ;  or  upon 
a  combination  of  these  qualities  in  a  class  of  prominent  men. 
It  often  has  no  other  sound  reason  to  enforce  it  than  the  argii- 
mentiim  ad  verecundiani.  In  the  Anglican  Church  this  sort  of 
authority  was  liberally  and  often  successfully  employed  to  keep 
young  Tractarians  from  going  to  Rome,  or  otherwise  following 
their  consciences  in  the  ruling  of  their  lives.  In  my  "  Reminis- 
cences "  of  Bishop  Wadhams  I  have  shown  what  warning  letters 
were  addressed  to  him,  urging  him  to  yield  the  dictates  of  a 
conscience  already  thoroughly  enlightened  to  sagacious  guides 
and  politic  trimmers  who  had  no  authority  to  appeal  to  but 
grave  beards  and  pompous  phrases. 

This  solemn  cantiloqnia  went  very  far  in  the  diocese  of 
Maryland.  Bishop  Whittingham  himself  was  so  far  committed 
to  Catholic  innovation  in  matters  of  outward  form  that  it  was 
hard  to  drive  his  young  colts  with  a  safe  and  steady  rein.  He 
was  himself  the  first  to  wear  long  cassocks,  reaching  nearly  to 
his  heels.  He  could  not  quarrel  with  his  neophytes  if  they  wore 
theirs  a  little  longer.  This  caused  them  sometimes  to  be  mis- 
taken for  Catholic  clergymen.  One  day  on  Saratoga  Street 
Baker,  when  passing  by  two  boys  who  were  playing  together  on 
the  sidewalk,  was  saluted  very  reverentially  by  one  of  them. 
Baker  felt  pleased,  but  was  soon  taken  down  by  the  other  boy^ 
who  cried  out : 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  157 


"  Hello  !  What  are  you  taking  your  hat  off  to  ?  That  ain't 
no  priest.     What's  the  matter  with  you?" 

Baker  felt  at  the  time  as  if  he  had  been  caught  in  a  sort  of 
fraud,  but  often  told  it  afterwards  as  a  good  joke. 

The  bishop  at  the  same  time  favored  also  the  use  of  crosses 
in  the  churches,  the  removal  of  pulpits  towering  above  desks 
and  communion  tables  underneath,  and  the  substituting  of  some- 
thing in  their  place  more  like  altars.  Hewit,  Baker,  and  some 
others  eagerly  followed  the  bishop's  lead,  and  would  gladly 
have  pushed  their  imitation  of  Roman  observances  much  far- 
ther. This  they  could  not  very  well  do  at  St.  Paul's,  where  they 
attended,  for  Dr.  Wyatt  was  omnipotent  there  and  clung  to  the 
more  Protestant  practices  in  which  he  had  been  brought  up. 
There  they  contented  themselves  with  kneeling  with  their  faces 
towards  the  altar,  though  the  rest  of  the  congregation  faced  the 
other  way.  Providence  soon  opened  a  better  way  to  play  Catho- 
lic. They  came  to  know  a  well-disposed  rector  of  a  rather 
small  brick  church  in  a  poor  district  of  Baltimore.  He 
warmly  sympathized  with  Hewit  and  Baker  in  their  Catholic 
tendencies,  and  allowed  them  to  remodel  the  interior  of  the 
church  and  to  imitate  Catholic  ceremonies  according  to  the  full 
desires  of  their  heart.  This  liberty  they  carried  so  far  that  the 
congregation  became  alarmed  and  remonstrated  ;  and  as  the 
bishop  seemed  indisposed  to  interfere,  they  began  to  forsake 
the  services.  The  parish  was  threatened  with  ruin  both  spiri- 
tual  and  financial.  At  this  juncture  a  power  more  effectual  than 
that  of  the  bishop  interposed.  This  was  the  rector's  wife.  With 
her  it  was  a  matter  of  bread  and  butter,  and  she  interposed 
her  authority  so  effectually  that  all  the  innovations  were  brought 
to  a  stop.  The  obnoxious  symbols  on  the  window  curtains  were 
banished  out  of  sight.  The  chancel  was  restored  to  its  former 
simplicity,  containing  no  longer  anything  bearing  resemblance 
to  an  altar,  but  revealing  as  before  the  old  marble-topped  com- 
munion table  which,  like  so  many  others^  would  have  served  as 
well  for  a  washstand. 

Hewit,  Baker,  and  D wight  Lyman,  whose  names  we  have 
brought  so  prominently  forward  amongst  the  Tractarians  of 
Maryland,  must  not  be  set  down  as  characterized  by  a  spirit  of 


158 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 


ritualism.  Outward  forms  have  often  real  value  as  symbolizing 
essential  doctrine,  and  therefore  minds  most  earnestly  seeking 
for  doctrinal  truth  must  needs  often  attach  much  importance  to 
ceremonies.  The  cross  is  typical  of  the  atonement,  the  altar  of 
a  continued  visible  sacrifice,  and  rich  and  costly  vestments, 
when  attainable,  are  acknowledgments  of  the  presence  of  God 
in  the   temple.     But    these   young   men    cannot   be   classed  with 


Very  Rev.  A.  F.   Hewit,  D.D.,  C.S.P. 

those  who  place  ceremony,  dress,  or  any  show  above  truth  and 
true  worship,  or  place  quaint  fashions  or  antique  curiosities  above 
sincere  and  heartfelt  devotion.  It  was  an  easy  thing  for  them 
to  yield  up  cassocks  or  Roman  collars  when  their  bishop  de- 
sired it. 

When  the  time  came  for  Hewif  s  ordination  to  the  diaconate 
he  gave  his  assent    to    the  Thirty-nine    Articles    in  the  sense  of 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Aftglican  Seminary.  159 

"  No.  90."  Baker  was  passed  for  ordination  to  the  priesthood 
by  the  bishop,  despite  his  unqualified  rejection  of  Articles  22 
and  31,  besides  some  others. 

It  was  not  long  before  Whittingham  himself  fell  under  sus- 
picions of  popery,  and  was  obliged  to  defend  himself  against 
the  open  attacks  of  one  of  his  own  clergy,  the  Rev.  Henry  V. 
D.  Johns,  rector  of  Christ's  Church.  It  was  to  avoid  the  charge 
of  popery  that  he  put  an  end  to  the  very  novelties  which  he 
himself  had  introduced.  Paralyzed  by  this  change  of  front  on 
the  part  of  their  bishop,  many  of  the  clergy  and  students  dropped 
quietly  back  into  the  old  ways.  Some  who  felt  it  hard  to  keep 
quiet  left  the  diocese. 

Hewit,  Baker,  and  Lyman  yielded  much  at  first.  It  was  not 
long  before  they  found  their  consciences  put  to  a  far  severer 
test.  They  were  expected  to  abandon  what  they  felt  to  be  the 
only  way  to  truth.  This  brought  them  speedily  to  a  decisive 
"break-up,"  like  that  which  took  place  at  the  Chelsea  Seminary. 
Hewit  was  the  first  to  take  refuge  in  Rome.  His  conversion 
followed  close  upon  that  of  John  Henry  Newman  in  England. 
He  was  received  into  the  Catholic  Church  at  Charleston,  S.  C, 
in  1846,  at  the  close  of   Holy  Week. 

Baker,  whose  attachment  to  the  Anglican  Church  reached 
farther  back,  lingered  several  years  longer.  He  was  received  in- 
to the  Catholic  Church  by  his  old  friend  and  comrade.  Father 
Hewit,  April  9,  1853.  The  reception  took  place  in  the  little 
chapel  of  the  Orphan  Asylum  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  in  Bal- 
timore. I  was  then  residing  at  the  Redemptorist  Convent  in 
Saratoga  Street,  and  saw  him  in  his  visits  there  during  the  days 
of  his  preparation.  My  memory  is  still  fresh  with  the  keen  in- 
terest I  took  in  the  conversion  of  a  man  already  so  distinguished. 
Baker  was  ordained  to  the  priesthood  September  21,  1856,  in 
the  Baltimore  Cathedral.  Present  on  that  occasion  and  in 
priestly  vestments  was  D wight  Lyman,  his  old  friend  and  co- 
partner in  so  many  vicissitudes  of  joy  and  grief  and  trials  of 
conscience.  A  few  days  later  Hewit,  Lyman,  and  Baker  cele- 
brated together  a  solemn  votive  Mass  of  thanksgiving  at  St.  Al- 
phonsus'  Church,  for  the  same  great  grace. 


i6o  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  BREAK-UP  ECHOED  IN  A  LOW-CHURCH  DIOCESE. — BISHOP 
MCILVAINE —SEMINARY  AND  KENYON  COLLEGE  AT  GAMBIER. 
— A  HIGH-CHURCH  PARISH  WITH  A  LOW  CHURCH  PASTOR. 
— TRACTARIANISM  CROPS  OUT. — A  BOMB-SHELL  AT  COM- 
MENCEMENT.— THE   RICHARDS   FAMILY   OF   CONVERTS. 

IN  the  last  chapter  I  have  attempted,  according  to  my  feeble 
means,  to  show  how  the  break-up  of  Tractarianism  at  the 
Chelsea  General  Seminary  was  echoed  in  the  rest  of  the  United 
States  and  particularly  in  the  diocese  of  Maryland.  There  the 
bishop  of  the  diocese  was  a  High-churchman,  inclined  to  favor 
Tractarianism,  and  was,  intellectually  speaking,  the  leading  mind 
among  that  class  of  bishops.  If  his  courage  had  been  equal 
to  his  inclinations,  he  would  have  been  beyond  all  question  the 
"great  gun"  of  his  class.  The  Low-church  party  had  also  its 
"  great  gun,"  equally  well  loaded  and  more  apt  to  go  off.  This 
was  Charles  Pettit  Mcllvaine,  second  Bishop  of  Ohio,  who  suc- 
ceeded to  his  diocese  in   1832. 

The  peculiarity  of  his  evangelical  views  may  be  accounted 
for  by  the  fact  that  he  was  educated  at  Princeton,  and  was  a 
professor  at  a  very  similar  institution,  the  University  of  the  City 
of  New  York,  at  the  time  when  he  was  selected  for  the  bishop- 
ric of  Ohio. 

One  of  his  earliest  appointments  after  ordination  was  to  St. 
Ann's  Church,  Brooklyn.  The  call  to  this  church  came  in  1827. 
While  there  we  find  him  taking  part  in  the  formation  of  an 
evangelical  society  or  conference  of  clergymen  belonging  to 
New  York  City  and  vicinity,  called  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Clerical  Association.  The  object  of  this  association  was  stated 
in  its  constitution  to  be  the  promotion  of  the  personal  piety 
and  of^cial  usefulness  of  its  members,  by  devotional  exercises 
and  by  conversation  on   missionary  and  other  religious  subjects. 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  i6i 

This  enterprise  was  promptly  squelched  by  Bishop  Hobart  as 
something  likely  to  prove  mischievous,  something  that  might 
lead  to  "  cant  "  and  perhaps  to  a  partisan  influence.  The  word 
"cant"  I  quote  from  Bishop  Hobart.  One  of  its  members 
being  a  professor  at  the  General  Seminary,  it  was  thought  that 
this  influence  might  be  extended  to  the  students. 

Some  members  of  the  association  afterwards  grew  up  to 
higher  views.  Mcllvaine  never  did.  In  his  whole  life  and  doc- 
trine I  can  find  nothing  characteristic  of  Episcopalianism  ex- 
cept that  he  used  the  book  of  Common  Prayer,  and  attached 
some  importance  to  Apostolic  Succession.  Baptismal  Regenera- 
tion he  scouted,  while  he  was  in  no  respect  behind  Calvin  in 
maintaining  the  doctrine  of  "total  depravity,"  or  behind  Luther 
in  his  extravagant  presentation  of  the  great  Protestant  heresy 
of  "justification  by  faith  only." 

While  a  student  in  the  seminary  I  went  one  Sunday  morn- 
ing to  hear  him  preach  on  this  last  doctrine,  which  was  his 
favorite  theme.  I  think  it  was  at  St.  Mark's,  on  Eighth  Street. 
It  made  the  blood  fairly  creep  through  my  veins  to  listen  to 
him.  This  must  have  been  in  the  early  summer  of  1843,  when 
he  was  on  a  visit  to  New  York,  soliciting  aid  for  his  institu- 
tions at  Gambier,  Ohio.  It  falls  within  my  purpose  to  give  the 
reader  some  idea  of  these  institutions.  It  will  show  the  bishop 
such  as  he  was  in  his  own  domain,  at  work  in  the  seat  of  his 
power,  with  his  principal  materials  for  good  or  evil  near  at 
hand,  surrounded  by  his  clergy  and  neophytes.  We  shall  then 
be  better  able  to  understand  what  a  formidable  adversary  to 
Tractarianism  was  such  a  man,  so  fortified  by  his  position  in 
public  life,  so  animated  by  intelligence  and  energy  of  character. 

In  a  published  appeal  for  financial  aid,  dated  New  York, 
June  27,  1843,  he  tells  us  that  the  principal  buildings  of  the 
institutions  at  Gambier  were  the  residences  of  the  bishop  and 
of  the  president  of  Kenyon  College,  and  five  professors'  houses. 
The  students  of  the  college  paid  for  their  instruction,  but  the 
course  at  the  seminary  was  free.  A  village  had  grown  up  at 
this  location.  The  whole  tract  of  land  consisted  of  four  thou- 
sand acres.  Thriving  farms  were  scattered  about  where  only  a 
few  years  before  nothing  could  be  seen    but    a   primeval    forest. 


i62  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 


Much  of  this  reminds  us  of  the  growth  of  Nashotah  at  about 
the  same  period,  leaving  out  the  longings  of  Breck  and  his 
companions  for  the  ancient  faith  and  for  monastic  seclusion. 

Bishop  Mcllvaine  had  at  that  time  in  his  diocese  fifty-nine 
clergymen.  Of  these,  twenty-seven  were  educated  in  part  or 
entirely  at  Gambier.  Others  educated  in  part  or  entirely  there 
had  moved  out  of  the  diocese.  We  know  by  other  testimony 
that  some  left  because  the  bishop  made  it  too  hot  for  them. 
Only  one  student  of  the  General  Seminary  had  come  to  him 
since  his  accession  to  the  episcopate. 

Dr.  Mcllvaine  was  not  the  sort  of  man  to  govern  his  dio- 
cese with  a  velvet  hand.  The  direct  powers  of  the  episcopate 
are  very  limited  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  but  it  was 
not  his  way  to  economize  such  power  as  he  had.  His  tempera- 
ment was  polemical.  Although  rightly  ranked  as  an  evangelical, 
his  spirituality  consisted  more  in  a  protest  against  "  good 
works  "  as  having  any  intrinsic  value  than  in  a  tendency  to 
sentimental  piety.  There  was  a  great  deal  of  the  Presbyterian 
in  him,  but  he  would  have  made  a  poor  Methodist.  He 
opposed  himself  openly  to  camp  meetings  and  to  all  such  revi- 
vals as  either  originated  or  resulted  in  breaking  up  the  quietude 
of  Christian  souls. 

His  views  on  the  subject  of  revivals  are  given  in  full  and  at 
length  in  a  "  charge  "  to  his  clergy  delivered  at  Chillicothe, 
September  5,  1834.  It  is  a  strange  thing  that  a  Revival  of 
the  true  Presbyterian  or  old-fashioned  Congregational  type  should 
have  taken  place  in  his  own  college  at  Gambier,  some  five  years 
later,  the  results  of  which  were  truly  remarkable.  We  give  an 
account  of  this  Revival  as  written  by  the  hand  of  an  eye- 
witness, Mr.  William  Richards,  who  "got  religion"  on  that 
occasion.  It  is  taken  from  a  public  lecture  of  Richards'  deliv- 
ered many  years  later. 

"It  commenced,"  said  the  lecturer,  "without  preparation  or 
special  efforts — no  one  knew  how  ;  but  it  went  on  until  nearly 
every  student  was  counted  as  a  '  convert.*  The  last  month  or 
two  of  the  college  year,  1839,  ^^^  given  up  mainly  to  this 
revival,  as  the  saving  of  souls  was  considered  of  vastly  more 
importance  than  mere  learning,  or  any  other  earthly  interest.     I 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  163 

allude  to  this  event  and  mention  the  fact  that  I  was  one  of  the 
subjects,  simply  for  the  purpose  of  setting  before  you  what  was, 
and  perhaps  still  is,  the  evangelical  notion  of  '  getting  religion.' 
'  Seekers  *  were  diligently  impressed  with  the  notion  that  they 
must  expect,  seek,  and  pray  for  a  *  change  of  heart.'  And 
when,  after  a  sharp  struggle,  sometimes  short  and  sometimes 
lasting  days  or  weeks,  one  could  at  last  get  up  in  meeting  and 
say  with  tears  of  joy  that  'At  such  an  hour  and  such  a  place 
[possibly  behind  a  big  log  in  the  woods,  or  in  the  loft  of  the 
barn,  or  in  the  closet  if  he  has  one,  or  elsewhere],  while  agon- 
izing and  praying  to  the  Lord,  suddenly  light  came  in  upon  his 
soul,  and  he  was  convicted  and  felt  happy ! ' — then  he  was 
regarded  and  received  as  a  convert.  He  had  *  experienced  reli- 
gion ' ;  he  was  no  longer  a  mere  worldling  ;  he  had  come  out 
from  the  world  ;  the  old  Adam  was  put  off ;  old  things  had 
passed  away  and  all  things  had  become  new  !  While  this  ex- 
citement lasted  there  was  a  happy  state  of  feeling.  But  it  is 
not  in  the  nature  of  man  to  keep  up  that  excitement  continu- 
ously. The  tension  must  give  way,  and  lassitude  and  coldness 
follow.  Then  came  in  many  cases  the  surprising  and  painful 
discovery  that  the  change  of  heart  was  not  a  radical  change 
after  all — that  the  old  man  Adam  was  not  conquered  and  put 
off,  and  that  it  was  still  just  as  easy  as  of  old  to  be  wicked,  to 
get  angry,  to  lie  or  swear,  or  slander,  or  have  bad  thoughts,  or 
be  worldly  minded." 

I  have  given  the  above  details  simply  to  furnish  a  picture 
in  a  general  way  of  the  state  of  things  in  a  Low-church  diocese 
at  the  period  of  which  I  treat.  I  have  given  also  the  ordinary 
characteristics  of  an  evangelical  or  Low-church  bishop  presiding 
in  such  a  diocese.  In  this  case,  however,  it  must  not  be  for- 
gotten that  the  bishop  happened  to  be,  not  merely  a  type  of 
his  class,  but  the  leading  evangelical  bishop  of  that  day,  tower- 
ing in  intelligence,  energy,  and  importance  above  every  other 
Low  church  bishop.  The  following  sketch  of  the  man  has  been 
given  to  me  by  one  of  his  own  clergy,  now  a  Catholic  layman, 
Henry  L.  Richards,  of  Winchester,  Mass.  I  have  seen  the 
bishop  and  heard  him  preach.  I  have  a  very  vivid  recollection 
of    that    occasion.      I    remember    very   well,    also,  my  own    con- 


164 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 


ception    of    the    characteristics   of  the  man  derived  from  others 

and  stored  away  in  my  memory.  I    cannot   pretend,    however, 

to    place    him    before    my   readers  in    such   true  colors  as  those 

furnished    me     by    this    venerable  convert,    who    was    educated 


Henry  L.  Richards. 


under  the  bishop's  own  eye  at  Kenyon  College  and  Seminary 
and  was  even  a  favorite  pupil.  Mr.  Richards  is  still,  at  the  age 
of  eighty  years,  after  a  laborious  life  in  business,  in  the  full 
vigor  of  his  remarkable  faculties,  active  in  charities  and  literary 
pursuits.     This  is  what  he  says  of    Bishop  Mcllvaine: 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  165 

"  The  bishop  was  in  many  respects  a  remarkable  man.  He 
had  a  good  deal  of  religious  fervor  and  enthusiasm,  and  a  great 
horror  of  Popery.  He  was  arbitrary,  dignified,  and  not  very 
accessible  except  to  his  particular  friends  and  sympathizers. 
He  was  interesting  and  effective  in  his  extemporary  sermons 
and  addresses,  but  his  formal  written  discourses  were  rather 
stilted  and  heavy." 

Amongst  all  evangelical  enthusiasts,  especially  ladies,  Bishop 
Mcllvaine  was  a  hero,  a  sort  of  apostolic  divinity.  I  remem- 
ber well  the  worshipful  words  of  an  excellent  Presbyterian  lady 
of  New  York  City  already  introduced  to  my  readers.  Anything 
clerical  was  to  her  something  angelic  ;  even  I,  boy  that  I  was, 
stood  in  her  regard  as  something  like  Raphaels  round-cheeked 
cherubs,  with  very  little  wings  put  on  to  atone  for  cheeks  and 
eyes  extraordinarily  human.  But  Bishop  Mcllvaine,  though 
most  violently  and  bitterly  evangelical,  with  his  high  talents  and 
fine  elocution,  was  something  superhuman.  "  Isn  t  he  perfectly 
wonderful?  '  she  would  say  to  me.  "  Isn  t  he  lovely?"  I 
could  not  enter  into  her  enthusiasm  at  all,  though  I  would 
willingly  have  done  so,  for  she  was  very  dear  to  me,  and  I  was 
always  glad  to  please  her.  I  acknowledged  that  he  was  won- 
derful enough.  I  wondered  at  him  myself,  but  I  thought  him 
altogether  unlovely.  I  could  very  well  have  used  the  terms 
applied  by  the  celebrated  Rufus  Choate  in  praise  of  a  Massa- 
chusetts judge : 

"  We  look  upon  him  as  a  heathen  looks  upon  his  idol.  We 
know  that  he  is  ugly,  but  we  feel  that  he  is  great.' 

Of  course,  in  such  a  diocese  as  Ohio,  administered  by  such 
a  man,  Tractarianism  could  not  have,  comparatively  speaking,  any 
very  great  foothold. 

The  reader  will  remember,  perhaps,  the  incident  given  in 
Chapter  H.,  of  the  putting  up  in  the  seminary  chapel  at 
Chelsea  of  a  cross  surrounded  with  evergreens,  preparatory  to 
midnight  services  on  Christmas  eve.  This  the  students  were 
obliged  to  take  down  by  order  of  Dr.  Turner,  dean  of  the 
faculty.  We  learn  from  the  worthy  doctor's  own  Autobio- 
graphy, that  this  incident,  apparently  so  trifling  in  itself,  was 
brought  before  the   public  in  consequence    of   a    communication 


1 66  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

to  Dr.  Turner  from  the  Bishop  of  Ohio,  who  had  heard  of  this 
affair  and  wanted  to  be  informed  about  it.  Dr.  Turner  tells 
us  that  he  gave  Bishop  Mcllvaine  an  exact  account  of  this 
matter  in  his  reply,  and  consequently  it  became  public.  It  was, 
moreover,  made  a  subject  of  public  ridicule,  so  the  dean  tells 
us,  by  a  church  paper.  This  looks  like  the  work  of  Dr. 
Seabury  of  the  Churchman.  An  English  work  entitled  Records 
of  Coiincils  noticed  the  same  affair  with  similar  ridicule  of  the 
dean's  action.  Fun  also  was  made  of  it  during  the  General 
Convention  of  the  Episcopal  Church  at  Philadelphia  in  1844. 

There  was  very  little  of  war  against  Tractarianism,  either  in 
private  machination  or  popular  excitement,  where  the  shadow 
at  least  of  Bishop  Mcllvaine's  hand  did  not  appear. 

Henry  L.  Richards,  already  quoted,  says  of  the  atmosphere 
pervading  the  bishop's  institutions  :  "  There  was  no  conflict  in 
the  seminary  or  college  because  he  was  careful  to  secure  pro- 
fessors of  his  own  stripe  of  churchmanship.  There  were  several 
*  old-fashioned  '  High-churchmen  (you  know  what  that  meant  in 
those  days)  among  the  clergy,  but  they  were  careful  not  to 
render  themselves  obnoxious  to  episcopal  authority.  The  bishop 
was  always  glad  to  get  rid  of  High-churchmen  and  to  fill  their 
places  with  those  who  sympathized  with  him.  He  was  apt  to 
give  the  cold  shoulder  to  all  who  taught  the  sacramental 
system,  while  those  who  preached  the  Calvinistic  doctrine  of 
justification  by  faith  only  received  his  warmest  friendship." 

But  Tractarianism  had  found  its  way  even  into  Ohio,  at  the 
time  of  which  I  am  writing.  And  when  the  great  break-up 
came  at  Oxford  and  at  Chelsea  Seminary,  it  brought  trouble 
even  to  Ohio  and  to  Bishop  Mcllvaine,  while  it  introduced 
young  men  of  high  culture,  great  talent,  and  eminent  virtue 
into  the  fold  of  the  Catholic  Church.  Foremost  amongst  these 
were  several  members  of  the  Richards  family,  of  whom  five 
now  living  are  known  to  me.  To  the  kindness  of  some  of 
these  I  am  indebted  for  a  large  part  of  what  I  have  already 
written  concerning  Bishop  Mcllvaine  and  his  diocese,  and  for 
what  I  have  still  to  write. 

I  scarcely  know  where  to  begin  the  story,  but  perhaps  it 
makes  little  difference.     There  was  one  parish  in  the  diocese  of 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglic  an  Seminary.  167 

Ohio,  almost  if  not  absolutely  the  only  one  in  the  State,  where 
High-church  ideas  prevailed.  It  was,  at  least,  the  principal  and 
leading  one  of  that  sort.  This  was  St.  Paul's,  at  Columbus. 
Bishop  Mcllvaine  thought  it  a  matter  of  high  importance  to  set 
a  guard  over  this  congregation,  to  keep  it  from  spreading  in- 
fection, and  if  possible  to  lead  it  into  more  evangelical  paths. 

In  1842  the  bishop  appointed  to  this  charge  a  young  man 
reared  under  his  own  eye,  and  moulded  to  his  own  thoughts  and 
methods.  This  was  the  Rev.  Henry  L.  Richards,  already  men- 
tioned, a  graduate  of  Mcllvaine's  Theological  Seminary  at  Gam- 
bier,  and  an  approved  evangelical.  He  has  said  of  his  theo- 
logical studies  :  "  It  was  during  the  '  Oxford  '  controversy  that 
we  were  under  the  bishop's  instruction,  and  our  principal  text- 
books with  him  were  a  small  volume  on  Jnsiification  by  Faith 
Only,  and  a  good-sized  octavo  on  Oxford  Divinity,  which  he 
wrote  about  that  time  to  stem  the  tide  Romeward,  which  he 
had  the  penetration  to  see  was  flowing  rapidly  in  that  direc- 
tion." 

It  can  easily  be  seen  that  such  a  young  man  was  one  after 
the  bishop's  own  heart.  So  thoroughly  had  he  become  imbued 
with  the  bishop's  sentiments  that  he  had  been  allowed  to  preach 
his  own  sermons  in  the  country  around  Gambler  before  he  was 
ordained.     But,  alas  ! 

"The  best  laid  schemes  o*  mice  and  men 
Gang  aft  a  gley." 

Dr.  Mcllvaine  was  doomed  to  be  disappointed  in  his  man.  St. 
Paul's  congregation  were  not  brought  down  to  the  evangelical 
tone,  but  their  young  pastor  was  ere  long  elevated  to  higher 
views  of  Christian  faith.  Christian  worship,  and  the  value  of 
sacraments.     The  change  came  about  after  this  wise. 

In  the  congregation  of  this  young  church  at  Columbus  one 
of  the  principal  parishioners  was  Mr.  Isaac  N.  Whiting,  the  well- 
known  bookseller  and  publisher.  Through  the  friendship  and 
courtesy  of  this  gentleman,  Richards  became  better  acquainted 
with  the  standard  works  and  arguments  of  the  High-church 
party.     He  was  introduced  to  a  new  world  of  thought,  in  which 


1 68  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

High-church  authors  spoke  for  themselves.  In  brief,  the  young 
pastor  not  only  became  a  High-churchman,  but  passed  rapidly 
through  that  unmeaning  middle  ground,  and  became  a  Tracta- 
rian.  This  change  soon  showed  itself,  not  only  in  his  sermons 
but  was  made  manifest  to  the  very  eyes  of  the  congregation  in 
the  altar  and  other  fixtures  of  the  church,  and  in  various  decor- 
ations. The  marble-top  communion  table  with  desk  above  and 
behind  it,  and  pulpit  towering  above  both  table  and  desk,  were 
discarded  and  gave  place  to  something  more  like  a  real  altar, 
in  appearance  at  least. 

These  things  could  not  be  kept  long  from  the  knowledge 
and  attention  of  such  a  bishop  as  Mcllvaine.  He  had  not  been 
contented  up  to  this  time  in  guiding  the  minds  of  his  collegians 
and  seminarians  safely  through  the  snares  of  pompous  prelacy 
and  wicked  popery.  His  wrath  against  these  things,  already  suf- 
ficiently kindled,  had  been  blown  into  a  white  heat  by  the  ordi- 
nation of  Arthur  Carey.  In  a  charge  to  the  clergy  and  laity, 
at  a  convention  of  his  diocese  held  in  September,  1843,  he  had 
denounced  Tractarianism  and  openly  condemned  the  action  of 
Bishop  Onderdonk  ;  and  his  prominence  and  rule  in  Ohio  were 
so  recognized  that  the  convention  had  seconded  this  onslaught 
by  resolutions  passed  unanimously. 

In  such  circumstances  the  new  altar  at  St.  Paul's,  Columbus, 
could  not  stand  long.  The  young  rector  was  ordered  to  take 
it  down.  He  obeyed,  albeit  reluctantly  and  under  protest.  He 
sawed  out  the  panels  and  made  an  honest  table  out  of  a  mock 
altar  that  had  no  sacrifice.  The  bishop  knew  very  well  that,  to 
all  Episcopalian  intents  and  purposes,  a  true  washstand  was  as 
good  as  a  mock  altar,  but  his  object  was  accomplished  by  this 
surrender  of  the  young  rector.  There  were  several  long  and 
solid  communion  tables  in  the  diocese  besides  that  at  Columbus, 
with  embroidered  covers  or  antependiums  resembling  piano-covers, 
but  this  one  he  was  determined  to  make  an  example  of  as  a 
Romish  innovation.  Thereby,  moreover,  he  humbled  a  new  and 
somewhat  refractory  young  Tractarian.  The  young  Tractarian 
is  still  living  and  full  of  life  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty  years, 
and  able  to  laugh  both  at  himself  and  the  bishop. 

The  resolute  bishop  had  still  more  thunder  in  reserve.     The 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  169 

priest  of  St.  Paul's  was  a  caput  notahile.  The  other  offenders  could 
say  to  themselves,  Prom  I  a  Jove,  procnl  a  fulmine,  and  besides 
this  they  could  just  as  well  be  attended  to  a  little  later  and  one 
at  a  time.  The  bishop  took  occasion  from  the  above  incident 
to  issue  a  pronu)iciamento  against  Roman  altars  in  Protestant 
churches  which  attracted  considerable  attention  and  criticism  at 
the  time.  Amongst  his  works  may  be  found  a  pamphlet  pub- 
lished in  1846,  entitled  "Reasons  for  Refusing  to  Consecrate  a 
Church  having  an  Altar," 

In  1849  Henry  Richard's  health  becoming  poor  he  went  to 
New  Orleans.  At  this  time  he  had  become  a  Roman  Catholic 
in  belief.  In  the  heat  and  enthusiasm  of  his  new  conviction  he 
returned  to  his  home  in  Columbus,  Ohio,  "  expecting  to  carry 
with  him  to  Rome  a  number  of  his  devoted  High  church  friends." 
In  this  he  found  himself  grievously  disappointed.  This  disap- 
pointment caused  his  own  courage  to  fail.  He  still  remained 
for  two  years  lingering  and  afraid  to  make  the  great  leap  which 
is  always  necessary  to  bring  one  out  of  a  false  church  into  the 
true  fold  of  Christ.  These  were  the  two  most  unhappy  years 
of  his  whole  life.  In  addition  to  the  agony  engendered  in  his 
own  mind,  his  condition  was  embittered  by  the  opposition  of 
friends  and  the  estrangement  of  his  nearest  kindred.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  mention  these  painful  things  in  detail.  In  the 
month  of  November,  185 1,  came  a  sickness  unto  death.  He 
found  himself  in  the  bosom  of  his  family  prostrate  and  helpless, 
apparently  just  at  the  gate  of  eternity  and  yet  outside  the  pale 
of  that  great  church  to  which  his  faith  clung  and  in  which  his 
heart  lay.  He  called  for  a  priest.  His  demand  was  refused. 
It  so  chanced  that  in  this  extremity  he 

"  Found  not  a  generous  friend,  nor  pitying  foe." 

He  had  a  brother,  indeed,  who  sympathized  with  him,  of 
whom  more  by  and  by.  But  that  brother  was  at  the  time  far 
away.  Kind  Providence  here  interfered,  and  in  a  manner  as  un- 
expected by  our  young  Tractarian  as  by  those  who  should  have 
listened  to  the  cries  of  his  conscience  and  befriended  him.  The 
crisis  passed  away,  leaving  him  still  weak  but  rallying.  The 
sympathizing    brother    came    on    the  wings    of    the  wind   to   his 


170  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

succor.  This  brother,  named  William,  a  younger  man,  but,  like 
Henry,  of  advanced  Catholic  views  and  likewise  a  thorn  in 
Bishop  Mcllvaine's  side,  proved  for  the  time  a  successful  peace- 
maker. He  made  arrangements  to  remove  the  patient  to  his 
own  home  in  Newark,  Ohio,  where  he  nursed  him  until  his  re- 
covery. 

William  had  hoped  to  persuade  Henry  to  delay  the  great 
step,  and  was  prepared  with  many  reasons  for  such  delay.  Pre- 
cisely the  contrary  happened.  The  foolish  via  media  grew 
meaningless  before  the  strong  light  which  Henry's  mind  and 
conscience  were  able  to  throw  upon  the  questions  which  came 
into  discussion  between  them. 

On  January  25,  1852,  Henry  L.  Richards  was  received  into 
the  Catholic  Church,  and  the  great  chasm  was  closed  which  had 
separated  him  for  awhile  from  the  home  of  his  conscience. 
Fortunately  this  step  did  not  separate  him  from  his  family, 
though  it  broke  up  his  connection  with  the  congregation  of  St. 
Paul's  at  Columbus,  and  with  Anglicanism.  He  had  acted  as 
rector  of  this  parish  of  St.  Paul's  from  1842  to  1852.  When  he 
sent  in  his  formal  resignation,  Bishop  Mcllvaine  was  manly 
enough  to  say  that  he  respected  him  a  great  deal  more  for  his 
consistent  action  than  those  who  had  the  same  views  and  senti- 
ments yet  continued  to  remain  where  they  were.  A  strong  and 
conscientious  man  is  always  a  thorn  in  the  side  of  a  superior 
who  rules  by  an  unwarranted  authority.  Under  the  circum- 
stances, no  wonder  that  the  bishop  felt  relieved. 

Being  a  married  man  with  a  family,  the  advent  of  Henry 
Richards  into  the  Church  closed  up  to  him  all  avenues  to  a  life 
in  the  priesthood.  To  a  highly  intellectual  and  theological  mind 
like  his  this  loss  of  a  cherished  career  mu.st  have  been  a  great 
sacrifice.  But  he  made  this  sacrifice  and  others  manfully,  hope- 
fully, and  even  cheerfully.  He  acknowledges  that  he  had  many 
trials  to  meet  at  first,  but  insists  that  he  has  always  looked 
upon  these  as  his  greatest  blessings.  He  entered  promptly  into 
business,  beginning  in  New  York  City  as  clerk  to  Edward  Frith, 
a  Catholic  gentleman,  agent  in  America  for  Sanderson  Brothers 
&  Co.,  Sheffield  steel  manufacturers.  His  active,  energetic  life 
in  this  new  vocation  has  brought  to  him  in  his  old  age  comfort 


Glijiipscs  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 


171 


and  prosperity,  without  diminishing  his  faith  and  piety,  or  his 
interest  in  all  that  concerns  the  welfare  of  Christ's  Church  or 
the  happiness  of  his  fellow-man.  He  is  the  centre  of  a  family 
group  of  Catholics,  including  the  wife  of  his  youth  and  several 
children.     One  of  these,  his  oldest  son,  is  Henry  Richards,  edi- 


WiLLiAM  Richards. 

tor  of  the  Sacred  Heart  Review,  published  in  East  Cambridge, 
a  prosperous  Catholic  paper.  To  this,  as  well  as  to  other  papers 
and  magazines,  he  himself,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty  years, 
is  a  frequent  and  valued  contributor.  His  second  son,  William, 
is    an    enterprising   and   thriving    dealer    in  iron  and  steel.     His 


172  Gliuipscsof  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

youngest  son,  the  Rev.  J.  Havens  Richards,  S.J.,  is  the  well- 
known  and  honored  President  of  Georgetown  College,  D.  C. 

Among  other  members  of  this  numerous  Catholic  family  of 
Richards  is  William,  Henry's  brother,  of  whom  I  have  already 
had  occasion  to  speak  as  once  resident  in  Bishop  Mcllvaine's 
diocese,  and  concerning  whom  there  remains  more  to  be  said. 

William  Richards,  a  little  younger  than  Henry,  and  like  him 
early  placed  under  the  dominant  influence  of  Bishop  Mcllvaine, 
was  also  a  student  at  Kenyon  College,  graduating  with  his 
brother  in  1838.  Although  strongly  religious,  the  natural  bent 
of  his  mind  was  towards  philosophy,  and  his  pathway  to  religious 
truth  from  the  errors  of  Protestantism  lay  along  a  weary  course 
of  philosophic  wandering.  After  his  graduation  at  college  he 
remained  at  the  institution  for  awhile  making  special  studies 
in  history,  philosophy,  and  law,  under  the  instruction  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  William  Sparrow,  whom  he  terms  a  learned  and  com- 
petent teacher,  although  a  radical  Protestant.  In  1842  we  find 
him  at  the  Yale  Law  School  in  New  Haven,  where  he  still  kept 
up  his  readings  in  philosophy. 

From  these  brief  details  I  hasten  forward  in  order  to  carry 
out  my  purpose  of  connecting  him  with  the  break-up  of  Trac- 
tarianism  in  the  Ohio  diocese.  William  Richards  had  carefully 
kept  his  eye,  all  this  while,  on  the  progress  of  his  brother  Henry 
towards  Catholic  truth,  and  sympathized  with  him  strongly.  It 
became  his  fate  to  take  part  also  with  that  brother  and  others 
in  troubling  the  peace  of  Bishop  Mcllvaine. 

In  the  summer  of  1844  he  received  and  accepted  an  invita- 
tion from  the  faculty  of  Kenyon  College  to  deliver  an  oration 
at  the  coming  commencement.     This  took   place  in  August. 

It  was  a  great  occasion,  and  for  any  one  interested  in  Ohio 
Churchmanship,  with  a  desire  in  his  heart  to  formulate  his  views, 
a  most  desirable  audience.  For  William  Richards,  a  pretty  well 
fledged  Tractarian,  it  was  a  bold  thing  to  attempt  formulating 
his  at  such  a  time  and  place.  If  Tractarians  were  present  in  his 
audience  they  were  all  well  handicapped.  He  was  or  had  been 
recently  a  law  student  at  Yale,  but  Yale  was  not  in  the  diocese 
of  Ohio.  His  leaders  in  philosophy,  Cousin,  Lieber,  Carlyle,  and 
Brownson,  were  not  represented  there  ;   still  less  Newman,  Pusey, 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  173 

and  Faber  of  Oxford,  or  Dr.  Seabury  of  the  New  York  CJmrch- 
man.  Kenyon  College,  however,  was  there,  with  a  great  part  of 
its  affiliation  ;  and  Charles  Pettit  Mcllvaine,  head  of  the  college 
and  seminary,  and  facile  princeps  of  Low-churchism  in  the  United 
States,  was  there  in  all  his  glory,  and  with  far  more  than  his 
full  canonical  power. 

"  He  was  the  heart  of  all  the  scene." 

It  was  in  such  a  place,  before  such  an  audience,  and  in  such 
a  presence,  that  William  Richards,  a  graduate  of  Kenyon,  and 
still  only  a  student,  unlaureled  in  any  profession,  dared  to  intro- 
duce his  philosophical  and  theological  bomb-shell.  His  philo- 
sophical aberrations  from  current  Evangelical  tradition  might, 
perhaps,  easily  have  found  pardon.  Older  men  than  he  was 
are  expected  betimes  to  slip  up  in  such  matters.  What  Ameri- 
can cares  for  a  few  powder-crackers  in  a  barrel  ?  But  why  speak 
disrespectfully  in  such  an  atmosphere  of  private  judgment  ? 
Why  intimate  that  the  sacred  right  of  private  judgment,  so 
precious  in  the  eyes  of  Protestant  Evangelicals,  and  so  strongly 
intimated  in  the  Thirty-nine  Articles,  is  inconsistent  with  the 
Twentieth  Article,  which  puts  forth  in  plain  terms  the  following 
declaration  to  be  subscribed  by  all  the  English    clergy : 

"  The  Church  hath  power  to  decree  rites  or  ceremonies,  and 
authority  in  controversies  of  Faith." 

It  is  true  that  the  Church  of  England  has  so  little  authority 
that  she  dares  not  attempt  to  hold  a  convocation  to  decide  any 
question  of  faith  or  doctrine,  and  that  she  has  never  enjoyed 
this  privilege  since  she  was  first  begotten.  She  cannot  even 
interfere  authoritatively  in  matters  of  ceremony  without  permis- 
sion of  the  prime  minister,  or  the  sanction  of  the  state  Court  of 
Arches.  This  is  very  true,  but  it  only  makes  the  presumption  of 
young  Richards  all  the  more  apparent.  Private  interpretation 
may  be  very  uncivil  although  quite  rightful.  Such  was,  in  fact, 
the  general  judgment  that  day  at  Kenyon  College. 

This  oration  embraced,  moreover,  one  more  telling  point,  one 
more  novelty  which  startled  not  only  the  bishop  but  the  whole 
audience.  It  was  a  sigh  for  unity,  and  that  a  unity  from  which 
was   not    excluded    the    ancient    church,    Catholic   and    Roman. 


174  Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary. 

This  remarkable  oration  was  the  topic  of  discussion  at  all  the 
dinner-tables  that  day  in  Gambier,  and  the  universal  comment 
was :    "  That  young  man  is  on  the  road  to  Rome ! " 

At  the  end  of  his  oration,  as  William  Richards  left  the  stage 
and  walked  down  the  aisle,  he  met  a  friend,  a  lawyer  of  Colum- 
bus, who  was  to  deliver  the  next  oration.  He  saluted  Richards 
with  the  blunt  question :  "  What  did  you  mean  by  that  ora- 
tion?" The  answer  was:  "I  meant  just  what  I  said."  "Well," 
said  his  friend,  "  I  brought  two  orations  with  me — the  best  one 
on  '  French  Literature,'  and  the  other  on  *  William  Leggett,' 
and  now  I  am  going  to  give  you  a  counterblast  by  giving  the 
'  Leggett  '  document."  This  second  oration  proved  to  be  as 
radical  in  politics  as  any  Evangelical  discourse  could  be  in  reli- 
gion, but  not  quite  so  startling  at  Gambier  that  day  as  the 
utterances  of  Richards. 

Among  those  present  at  these  exercises  was  the  Rev.  George 
Denison.  He  was  rector  of  the  church  at  Newark,  where 
Richards  resided,  and  nephew  of  Bishop  Philander  Chase.  It 
was  a  great  annoyance  to  him  at  the  dinner-tables  that  day  to 
be  obliged  to  admit  to  numerous  questioners  that  the  Tractarian 
orator  was  a  parishioner  of  his. 

William  Richards  fulfilled  the  prophecies  so  freely  made  con- 
cerning him  on  this  commencement  day  which  we  have  described. 
He  became  a  Catholic.  He  lives  amongst  us  now,  one  of  the 
most  honored  names  in  the  church's  long  list  of  educated  con- 
vert laymen.  A  manuscript  lecture  of  his  delivered  in  1887, 
before  the  Carroll  Institute,  for  the  benefit  of  the  Brownson 
Monument  Fund,  has  been  generously  put  in  my  hands,  and 
aided  me  much  in  the  preparation  of  this  chapter.  I  have  only 
used  such  incidents  and  dates  as  lend  themselves  to  my  especial 
purpose. 

Those  who  would  study  the  great  social  problems  of  our  day 
by  the  light  given  to  a  true  Catholic  made  competent  to  speak 
from  the  bosom  of  a  long  experience,  ripened  by  a  careful  and 
thoughtful  philosophy,  and  by  a  truly  spiritual  faith  which 
always  recognizes  duty  both  to  God  and  man,  should  read  the 
essay  of  this  same  William  Richards  of  Washington,  printed  in 
the  "  Proceedings  of  the  American  Catholic  Congress  of    1889." 


Glimpses  of  Life  in  an  Anglican  Seminary.  175 

In  the  present  chapter  I  have  only  picked  a  few  seeds  from 
the  surface  of  a  large  field,  confining  myself  to  the  locality  of 
a  single  diocese  and  to  a  short  period  of  three  or  four  years 
memorable  in  my  own  life.  Bishop  Mcllvaine,  Gambler,  with  its 
theological  seminary  and  Kenyon  College,  lie  before  us  as  plain  as 
I  know  how  to  picture  them.  These  are  in  contrast  with  Bishop 
Whittingham  and  scenes  which  surrounded  him  at  the  same 
period.  Both  these  localities  connect  by  wires  with  the  Chelsea 
Seminary,  which  in  many  respects  must  be  considered,  at  the 
period  in  question,  as  the  centre  of  electric  fire.  It  is  a  sort  of 
drama  that  we  have  attempted  to  present,  and  trust  that  we 
have  sufficiently  preserved  "  the  unities."  The  unity  of  action 
must  be  looked  for  in  that  momentary  confusion  which  we  Trac- 
tarian  converts  unwittingly  united  to  produce.  A  sudden  break- 
up came  first.  After  that  break-up  there  settled  upon  many 
grateful  hearts  in  America  a  sweet   and  long-abiding  peace. 


FINIS. 


DATE  DUE 


BX5925  .W24 

The  Oxford  movement  in  America  :  or, 

Princeton  Tlieological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  00004  0461 


OXFORD 
MOVEMEN 
IN  AMERICJ 

OR 

GLIMPSES 
OF  LIFE  I 
ANGLICAN 
SEMINA 

BY 

REV. 

CLARENCl 

WALWO 


'^^:' 


